Chuck vs Gravity
by Dillwg
Summary: An Intersect-less Chuck Bartowski is having fun on a Day of Morgan when he jumps in to save ex-CIA agent Sarah Walker's little "sister" Molly. Sarah gets to save him right back when Fulcrum threatens to ruin Chuck's dreams. But who is going to save John Casey when he goes up against our favorite 4 year old? Needless to say, it's AU and (despite this description) angst-free.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Chuck vs. Free Fall

A/N: I have gotten some follow up inquiries about The Debate. Let me start by noting that this is not the sequel. There are several talented writers on this site that are capable of shifting from one story to the next from chapter to chapter. Aside from limited time due to work and family, it takes me quite a while to get out of the characters' headspace from one tale and into a different headspace on another tale. As I noted in my last story, I've got parts of the sequel to the Debate blocked out, but there was too much action and not enough interaction. The sequel will come, but this ain't it.

This is an AU story where Chuck doesn't have the intersect, and where Sarah left the CIA shortly after the Ryker mission. A civilian Sarah Walker and her sister Molly are out for a day of fun when Chuck Bartowski saves the day to prevent Molly from getting hurt. There is little in the way of intrigue, and no angst. Plus, Chuck and Sarah's relationship develops quickly. If that doesn't sound like what you want to read-I'd suggest looking somewhere else. If it is your cup of tea, read on.

Anywhere there are words in italics, it indicates the thought of the character rather than dialog.

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"Dude, you needed a break. You've been putting in 15 hour days, 7 days a week. Do you know how that affects me with my mad work avoidance skills? I'm pretty sure that I broke out in a rash the other day just thinking about how hard you've been working."

"Are you sure that was from thinking about my career, or was it more likely a result of the most recent round of Mystery Crisper at the Buy More?"

"Hey, now. No making light of my favorite past time at so called work. Besides, you know that the Beard makes me immune to all allergies and food issues."

Chuck tilted his head back to laugh. Crazy facial hair theories aside, Morgan was right. Too many hours spent at the keyboard, coding and tweaking, trying to make 100% sure that his new game would be flawless. Nerd HQ Games was Chuck's brainchild, and as its sole employee/owner, all of the aspects of game development fell to him.

His first game had been sold off to be branded by a major label, and was a huge hit. Rather than giving Chuck greater confidence in his abilities, instead he had become even more driven to make sure the second game out would be even better and bug free. He was determined to show that Nerd HQ would be a force to be reckoned with in the world of gaming. Morgan was unofficially Chuck's partner in crime at Nerd HQ, but until they had the funds, he was keeping his job as AssMan at Buy More. If this second game had anywhere near the success of the first, he and Morgan could fulfill their dreams of creating their own gaming business.

But when his sister took Morgan's side when his buddy had pushed and pleaded for a day of Morgan, Chuck knew that he had lost perspective. After all, Ellie refused to take Morgan's side on anything as a matter of principle. Or maybe it was because no matter how insignificant the issue was that she previously had agreed with him on, Morgan automatically assumed that it was a sign that she had finally come to her senses and wanted to marry him. Since that time, Ellie took to an anti-Morgan position by default.

The "Day of Morgan" had started off with a marathon session of Guitar Hero at their old haunt of the arcade on the Santa Monica pier. Chuck had privately wondered why Morgan thought that the best solution to Chuck spending too much time on a videogame was to binge on gaming at an arcade. But the truth was, he was able to relax and enjoy the work of other gamers, getting his head out of codes and onto chords.

They made their way out of the arcade, both reflexively bringing a hand up to cover their eyes as they went out into the daylight for the first time in hours. They were in search of some pizza before resuming their Day of Morgan. His buddy had heard of a new pizza spot that he wanted to try out. Chuck definitely deferred to the Beard when it came to inexpensive food. He was relaxing and having fun. Plus, he may have gotten a flash of inspiration for his new game while playing some of the classics at the arcade.

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Sarah was relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day as she followed her "sister" Molly onto the Santa Monica Pier. The little girl was vibrating with excitement (or was that from sugar after devouring cotton candy that had been bigger than her head?) as she went from shop to shop and vendor to vendor. Her giggles brought smiles to complete strangers as they walked past. Molly's happiness was infectious, and just what Sarah needed.

Her departure from the CIA had been fairly sudden in its development. After saving her now sister in Prague, Sarah had become more and more disenchanted with her work and the sacrifices that she was constantly called on to make. The disenchantment had made her less focused, and the infamous Ice Queen had made a nearly fatal mistake on her last mission. She knew that she had to either get out or get dead. Surely there was more to life than adrenaline filled missions operating under a fake identity?

Director Graham had been disappointed, but not overly shocked, when she surrendered her CIA credentials. He knew that she had become burnt out, as he should since he was the one who kept pushing, one mission after another after another. After the CAT Squad had ended in a debacle, Sarah had gone from one solo mission directly to the next. Over and over with no down time in between. In the last six months, she hadn't spent more than two consecutive days at the CIA furnished apartment in Fairfax, Virginia.

It had been a discreet conversation with her mother from a burner phone that decided the issue for Sarah. Emma had been describing Molly's day at the daycare center, when Sarah had realized the truth was that she needed a normal life.

So, here she was at the beach in LA getting to know the little girl who she had saved. They had gone to an early movie featuring cartoon animals who all spoke flawless English, although it had seemed perfectly credible to Molly. Then the drive to the beach. Molly had a friend in daycare who had a birthday party at the Pier a couple of weeks earlier, and Molly had been after Emma to take her back there ever since. Sarah figured that it would be as good a place as any to start to form her big sister bond with Molly.

As soon as they had walked on to the Pier, Molly had befriended another little girl, and the two ran in circles speaking some language that evidently made perfect sense to each other, but was completely unknown to the adults around them. Sarah had relaxed and just let Molly be a carefree child as she and her new best friend took turns chasing after each other. The other little girl's parents were content to take a break from their role as entertainers to their daughter and let Molly handle those duties for a while.

The game of chase had led Molly further away from Sarah than she was comfortable with, so Sarah had stood up from the bench to fetch the two girls when it happened. Molly was sprinting away from her friend, while looking back at the other girl when she had collided with a passerby. The collision caused Molly to suddenly go sideways, causing the little girl to trip. Sarah watched in horror as Molly flipped over the railing and off of the side of the Pier.

Sarah had started forward as soon as Molly had run into the stranger, but Sarah had been too far away to have any hope of stopping the fall. She dashed toward the railing, desperately hoping that Molly was ok.

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Chuck was listening to Morgan's latest diatribe on why Guitar Hero should have the full catalogue of Michael Bolton songs (despite the lack of any significant guitar sections or redeeming traits of any nature in Chuck's opinion), when he saw a cute little girl with ringlets of gold running and laughing. Chuck started moving even before she collided with a man walking down the Pier oblivious to the whirling dervish about to smack into him. As the little girl went backwards through a gap in the railing, eyes wide with terror and tiny hands grasping at empty air, Chuck was sprinting forward while grabbing his phone, wallet and keys from his pockets and blindly flinging them back to where Morgan should be.

After a few strides, Chuck was up atop the railing, launching himself into the air to get down to where the girl had fallen. His training was years earlier, and his technique may have been a little rusty, but Chuck did a controlled deep water entry, quickly bursting to the surface and heading to where he had seen the girl enter the water as he had raced after her. Within moments, he saw her head on the surface, arms flailing about. He called out to her as he cut through the water, grabbing a hold of her to keep her up on the surface as he paddled them both ashore. He kept up a stream of chatter, mostly to keep her distracted, but also to evaluate her responses. Growing up with a doctor for an older sister had left Chuck with a decent amount of informal medical training.

They soon made it to the shore, where Chuck gently carried her up onto the sand. All the while he kept talking to her, assuring her that everything was fine, while also taking precautions to prevent aggravating any potential injury. His worst fear hadn't been realized, but there was no need to tempt Fate by not being cautious with the little girl's safety.

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Sarah had pulled up short as a tall, dark and curly stranger had (literally) leapt into action to go after Molly. There hadn't been any hesitation on the young man's part. In one fluid motion, he had gone up and over the railing, shifting his body on the fly into a foot first dive. She could see the ripples from his entry just feet away from where Molly was. Relief flooded through her as she saw him gather up Molly and start to take her ashore.

It was then that Sarah realized there had been another man about her age that had been with the stranger. This short bearded man was already on his cell phone calling in Ocean Rescue. She had no idea who Mitch Buchanon was or why the little bearded man thought he should be sent to get Molly, but as long as there were paramedics, she didn't care what their names were. As the one man had dove into the ocean, and the other was calling in the lifeguards, Sarah turned and sprinted down the Pier so that she could get down to the sand and check on Molly herself. As she was getting to the end of the Pier, Sarah spotted rope attached to one of the pilings, coiled atop the wood. She quickly grabbed one end and launched herself into the air, swinging out and down to get to Molly all the faster.

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Chuck had gotten the little girl up onto the beach, and was pretty sure that she wasn't the worse for wear from a serious drop into the surprisingly cold ocean. Suddenly he saw a beautiful blond woman leap off of the pier, swinging through the air on some rope, graceful, efficient and gorgeous. He was mesmerized for a moment, nearly forgetting his young charge. She was like James Bond, only way hotter. The woman rushed towards him, swiftly moving through the sand even thought she was wearing boot with heels on them. She flickered a glance Chuck's way before gathering up the little girl and quickly and efficiently checking her for injuries.

A minute later, Morgan ran towards Chuck, wheezing in his exhaustion from running down from the pier overhead. Morgan quickly called out to let Chuck know that Ocean Rescue was coming. Morgan also yelled that the 911 apparently didn't approve of Ocean Rescue being referred to as Baywatch-but that the disapproval of the dispatcher was meaningless as the dispatcher had opined that the movie was way better than the show. Heresy in Morgan's book.

Morgan had then asked Chuck if he should call Ellie. Chuck could have sworn that for the briefest moment, the beautiful blonde Valkyrie had gone rigid before resuming her examination of the little girl.

"Morgan, you do not need to call Ellie. I'm not dead or even injured, but if Ellie finds out that you went into my contacts and copied down her cell number she may very well kill you. And I don't want her spending the next 15 to 20 years in some SuperMax prison. Nor do I want you to be dead. That either."

Chuck cocked his head to the side as he took in the dumbstruck look that came over Morgan as he halted mid-jog from the end of the pier out to the beach. Morgan was still a good five yards away from Chuck and the little girl when he practically yelled. "Stop the press. Vicki Vale…No. Lara Croft…No, a mad scientist's gene-splitting merger of Vicki Vale and Lara Croft's badassery."

Chuck ground his teeth together. "She can hear you."

Sarah took in a deep breath, finally accepting the fact that Molly was truly ok. Cold, scared witless, but physically unharmed. She stood upright to thank the tall, curly haired man who had saved the day. She fought back a smirk as she saw his expression turn dumbstruck as he fully took in the beauty of the woman before him. "Are you ok? I'm so sorry. I should have checked on you both, not just my little sister. But this was my first time one on one with her…" _I'm spiraling. This is crazy. I don't spiral._

"Who…" Chuck shakes his head. _Oh God, she's so stunningly beautiful that I think I forgot how to speak. God, she's going to think that I'm a total spaz. Tall, skinny, soaking wet and way, way (at least according to Ellie) way overdue for a haircut. You know, she's more cute than beautiful when she's spiraling. Spiraling? Focus, Chuck. Time to help her_. Chuck shakes his head again. "Easy. Easy. It's okay. It's just that it has been a little while since I've had to do that." He turns to look at the height of the pier where he had jumped, gulping audibly. "Well, I've never actually had to do that." He gestured toward the pier he had just leapt from. "But it's been a while since I've had to go in the water after somebody. But, to belatedly answer your question, I'm fine. And so is…I don't even know your name, sweetie." Chuck said as he turned to Molly, a welcoming smile crossing his face as he looked at her. Something in Sarah's stomach lurched at the sight.

"So," Sarah noted, "you've done this before? Or at least something like this?" _Just how often are civilians called on to rescue complete strangers in LA?_

"Well, I did a little life guarding during the summers in high school and again at college as a part time job to help with my scholarship. But the last time I had to go in the water was when I met up with my friend Morgan and some of his co-workers here at the beach. This one guy, who was actually always a jerk to me-even the next day after I saved his butt. Well, not just to me. Pretty much to everyone who worked in the store too. That night he had too many beers and wandered out into the ocean. He got caught up in a rip tide and had no clue what to do. I had to go in and get him back to shore. Now that I think about it, the guy may have been so drunk that he didn't even remember anything the next day. I wasn't looking for thanks. Especially not from that jerk."

Sarah tilted her head back and laughed out loud. "Well, I'm sure that Ms. Molly will never be a jerk to you." _It's the seesaw of emotions from the fear from Molly falling to the relief that she was safe. That's why I'm feeling like this about some guy that I don't even know. Right? Must be right. I'm not sure exactly why it has to be right, or even logical, but it does._

Morgan overcame his awe over Sarah's beauty and rushed up to Chuck's side to make sure that he was ok. "Chuck! Buddy, what's your name Chuck?"

"Seriously? You just said my name twice and you want me to say it back to you?" Chuck said as he rolled his eyes at his good intentioned but clearly clueless friend.

Morgan was undeterred by the logic that Chuck presented. "What day is it? What is the name of the third grade teacher who you totally had a crush on? Talk to me Goose." Rather than respond to Morgan, Chuck did a perfect re-enactment of the Picard Face Palm. "Dude, does your head hurt? You haven't even told me your name. You must not remember. Do you have amnesia? Wait, if you do have amnesia would you even be able to remember that you have it? Or would the amnesia wipe out any memory of not having memory? Ellie! I should call Ellie."

Sarah's breath suddenly hitched at the name. _Who in the hell is this Ellie? Girlfriend? Wife?_

"Oh God," Chuck murmured into the palm of his hand. "Kill me now."

Morgan instantly looked grief-stricken. "No, no, no! Oh, man. The pain must be brutal. Chuck, don't go into the light! Don't do it man. Don't give up. Think of Ellie. Stay strong for Ellie."

_There's that Ellie woman again_, Sarah mentally groused as she tried to focus her attention on her sister. _She's got to be important to Chuck. Reason for living-important to him._ _So why was he looking at me like that if he has someone that important in his life? Not that I minded him looking at me like…Focus Sarah!_

"Although," Morgan continued as he shifted his gaze skyward while scratching his beard, "if you go, I promise to be there always for Ellie. A shoulder to cry on. Provide comfort to her during the long, cold winter nights."

Suddenly it seemed as if Chuck's death (even if he appeared to be in perfect health) wouldn't be so sad to Morgan. _That seems like an awfully intimate and inappropriate way to be speaking of a man's…significant other?...especially directly to his face_.

"Buddy," Chuck said in a resigned tone, a far cry from the outraged one that Sarah had anticipated. "First, I'm not dying. Second, you know that Ellie has Awesome for any support that she needs. Third, you also know that even if I were to suddenly die, my sister has made it perfectly clear over and over aaaaaaaand over again for the last 14 years that she will never give you the time of day, much less date you. Abundantly clear, one could go far as to say."

Sarah laughed out loud before she could catch herself. She wasn't sure if it was the description of just how impossible this bearded guy's dreams were, or relief (that she didn't even want to acknowledge to herself) over the fact that the mystery Ellie was Chuck's sister. Sarah turned a shade of pink as both men turned to look at her. The pinkish dusting to their cheeks made it clear that they had momentarily forgotten that Sarah was in the same spot as where they were while having this rather awkward conversation. "Well, gentlemen," Sarah murmured "it seems the cavalry has arrived." She pointed over their shoulders towards the approaching Ocean Rescue vehicles that were speeding across the sand towards their spot at the bottom of the pier. Sarah turned back to Chuck once more, "Thank you again for saving Molly. That was pretty incredible of you."

Sarah leaned over and brushed her lips on his cheek before draping an arm over Molly's shoulders and walking her towards the arriving medical team. She focused on placing one foot in front of the other, while trying desperately to not focus on how Chuck smelled up close-especially with the salty tang of the ocean clinging to his skin-or on how her lips continued to tingling from their brief contact with Chuck's skin. She willed herself to not look back over her shoulder at him. Despite how badly she wanted to sneak a look.

"It wasn't anything big," Chuck called out to her retreating form, incredibly desirous of having her stay around, at least just a little bit longer.

"Really," Sarah threw back over her shoulder as she steered Molly to the rescue team alighting from the truck. "Because there was a pier full of people up there, and the only people who did anything other than whip out their cell phones to film the scene were you and me. And you went over the rail before I could even get close." She returned her attention to her little sister, who was now the focus of several lifeguards. The wail of an ambulance could be heard approaching. Sarah dreaded the exposure, but her sister's health was the priority at the moment. Sarah needed to focus on her sister, not on tall, heroic men with eyes that were warm, friendly and welcoming. Eyes that clearly conveyed the question: Why would I lie? Maybe that was why Sarah had never felt drawn to a man's eyes in that way. Most men, people in general both in her line of work, and her father's line before that, seemed to have eyes that taunted: You'll never know. Maybe that was why Sarah couldn't stop thinking about Chuck, even when she needed to focus on Molly's condition and how to keep this whole situation quiet.

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A/N 2: This story was originally going to be posted back in early September, until someone who will remain nameless (his initials are EDC) mentioned a Christmas challenge. I thought to myself that a Molly story makes for an easy basis for a Christmas contribution-and the result was that the story doubled in length. Most of the story is written (with some parts undergoing a significant revision), but there are a couple of scenes that are either a skeleton outline or just a sticky note concept. As such, I'm not sure the exact posting schedule, but I anticipate weekly updates.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: For Every Action There Is A Reaction

A/N: Thank you to all who have read, and a special thank you to those who have posted reviews or sent PMs. It makes me work all that much harder on the story to see to it that it lives up to expectations. The downside is that it is much more enjoyable than actual work, which is necessary for pesky things like paying the bills.

On to Chapter 2, where a couple more familiar faces enter the picture.

As a reminder, words in italics represent the thoughts of a character, rather than spoken words. Although there is a single word exception to that rule in this chapter, but it should be clear in context.

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"Word on the street is that you retired," came the gruff voice over the phone as soon as the call picked up. No greetings, no preamble. Sarah actually found it comforting, in an odd way, to learn that John Casey never, ever changed.

"Well, on the last op I had a little disagreement with the agent in charge over whether or not I should murder a child so that the AIC could steal her family's fortune, or if I should just kill him instead. Besides, for a while it felt as though all of the things that I was doing in the name of the greater good weren't actually resulting in any good getting done."

"Fair enough," Casey replied. "You are calling. I assume that means you need my help."

"I need two favors. Yesterday afternoon a report was drawn up by the Santa Monica Ocean Rescue regarding a little girl who fell off of the pier, and the guy who jumped off of the pier into the ocean to save her," Sarah stated. With Casey, he always preferred a sit rep that just focused on the facts.

"Would this little girl be around four years old?" Casey asked. "Because there was word out of Budapest about an American 'businessman' who was found dead shortly after there was an organized crime shootout that left a banker and his wife dead. They had a young daughter, but no one seems to know where the little girl got to."

Sarah's voice was notably colder in her response, "Need to know John."

Casey sat up on the other end of the call. The use of his first name was a warning, the cold, professional tone a sign that he was now dealing with the Ice Queen and he needed to tread very carefully. "Roger that. What do you need with the Ocean Rescue report?"

"I need for it to disappear," Sarah replied. Her tone was professional, but not as cold and intimidating as a moment earlier. "I need it to be like it was never made. The second favor is that I need info on the guy who saved the girl. Shallow dive. Name, address, any red flags. I need to be sure he is who he says."

"Give me 24 hours," Casey said, no doubt in his tone that he would be able to get the info and make the report vanish as though it was never created.

"Oh, and Casey, once you do this we are square."

"No, we're not. You don't mess with kids. I'm not saying that the little girl who fell from the pier is the same one as Budapest, but I'm not saying that she isn't. For a little kid, this one is on the house. That said, I don't need to know anything about anything if the reason for the background on the guy involves lady feelings. Don't need to know, don't want to know. But if he saved the child, consider it a buy none get two free on the info. I don't need to hear anything about any lady feelings. And, I don't want to hear anything about them." Just as abruptly as he had joined the call, John Casey terminated the call.

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Sarah sat in her Porsche, half a block west of the Echo Park apartment complex, flicking through page after page of biographical data on Charles Bartowski that she had downloaded onto her tablet from the email from the NSA agent. It felt a bit stalkerish to be sitting down the street from Chuck's apartment, learning his life story without his knowledge or consent. But, to be fair, Casey had sent her far more information than the shallow dive she had requested.

Scrolling back to the first page, Sarah looked at the information on the screen. Lives with his sister, Eleanor "Ellie" Faye Bartowski, and her boyfriend, Devon Woodcomb (_that must be the Awesome guy who Chuck mentioned to Morgan…and now I'm referring to them as if I know them personally_). There were accompanying photographs of a beautiful woman, who bore a strong resemblance to Chuck, and a smirking man with model-like looks but an open, friendly appearance.

_Both doctors, hmm, quite the role models for Chuck. Let's see. Chuck graduated with high honors from Stanford. Impressive. Founder of Nerd HQ Games. Small video game company that was starting to make a name for itself in the gaming community. No information on any significant other in his life. That's a little frustrating, seeing as how Casey was so willing to put in so many other mundane facts, but can he throw me a bone on whether the guy is in a relationship? Of course not_.

_No arrests. Not surprising, given his attitude on the beach after the rescue. Not a big social media presence. Most of his posts are either about his company or his sister and friends. A nice guy. One who just happened to leap into action to save Molly. So why am I so nervous about talking to him again? It was so easy on the beach. Playful banter has always been completely alien to me, but it came so naturally with him. Why? _

_Aside from Mom and Molly, I hardly speak with anybody. Even when I was with the Agency I made monks look chatty. I used to speak some with Carina and Bryce, but that was always about work. Even when not working it was about work. What is it about Chuck that makes him so different?_

The butterflies in her stomach were also a completely foreign feeling. She'd been less scared taking down despots, dictators and xenophobic oligarchs. But this was different. This was just a girl going to stand in front of a boy to tell him…that she'd like to take him out to lunch. _Lunch would be a normal way to say 'thank you' to someone for saving my sister. Right? Right. Definitely right. Right? But what if he says no? No, there was definitely something there on the beach. Some instant connection between the two of us. I couldn't have been the only one to feel it. Before Morgan showed up and embarrassed him, Chuck had to have felt the bond, right?_

_ Damn. He's got me spiraling again and I'm not even talking to him._

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Ellie shrugged her bag off of her shoulder and onto the end table positioned just for that purpose near the front door. Dragging herself into the kitchen after an overnight shift at Westside Medical, she spotted her brother standing by the window staring out without apparently actually seeing anything. Fortunately, he also was standing by a pot of freshly brewed coffee although the cup by his hand appeared to be more for cooling than drinking.

As they both took their coffee the same way, Ellie strolled over and started drinking his cup (no sense letting good coffee go to waste), "Hey Chuck…Chuck…Chuck!"

Chuck jumped up, startled that his sister had somehow materialized right next to him, holding the cup of coffee that had just been in his hand.

Ellie lowered the coffee after taking a long, much needed sip, "Hey little brother, you okay?"

Realizing that he had been caught daydreaming, Chuck lowered his head, "What? Oh, um…yeah. I'm ok, fine really. I've just been thinking."

Relieved that there was nothing physically wrong with her brother, Ellie nevertheless remained concerned with how distracted he was. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, right? Does this have anything to do with how Morgan was staring at me oddly last night? Well, more oddly than is normal even for him. Did something happen?"

"You, ah, you noticed that did you?" Chuck stammered out. "Of course you did. You're you. No, it…well, maybe something did happen. Nothing bad. Nothing like that. Yesterday at the Pier there was a little girl who tripped and fell. I wound up helping her out."

"But then her sister came over, she's around my age-don't look at me like that," Chuck muttered while pausing his tale to stick out his tongue at his sister, "and there was just this connection, you know? We were talking and joking like we had known each other our whole lives instead of strangers meeting for the first time."

Ellie clasped her hands together as she tried to smother the squeal that was bursting to come out. "Did you get her number? Are you seeing her again?" Seeing the chagrined look on Chuck's face, Ellie let out a groan. "Did you at least get her name? Anything?"

"El, no. I was a little distracted at the time. Look, I know I'm never going to see her again. And that kind of sucks, you know? I'm just going to hit the shower. Dinner tonight? The two of us? We haven't done the brother sister meal thing in a while."

Ellie showed a remorseful smile before scrunching up her nose, "That sounds really nice. Just the two of us. Cantina?"

"You know it," Chuck responded with a genuine grin. He gave a wave over the back of his shoulder as he walked down the hall to his room.

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Ellie toasted up a croissant, grabbing the plate and her (formerly Chuck's) cup of coffee and made her way to the sofa to sit and unwind from the stressful hospital shift. She was busy deliberating whether Chuck's interest in this mystery woman was a sign that he was finally ready to start dating seriously again. She mentally began reviewing the list of the eligible doctors and nurses at work who could be a good fit for her brother. Her mental ruminations were cut short by a knock at the door.

The woman on the other side of the door was stunning. No other word would suffice. She was dressed in a simple white blouse with tight fitting blue jeans, but she looked elegant. The first words out of her mouth caught Ellie by surprise.

"Oh, you must be Ellie," Sarah exclaimed in surprise, having mentally prepared herself for Chuck to be the one to open the door. _How am I surprised at her opening the door? I know that she lives there. What have you done to me Chuck Bartowski?_

Ellie looks on, slightly confused but not unkind. "Yes, I am. And you are?"

"I'm Sarah Walker. I just came by to thank your brother for saving the day yesterday. He had mentioned his sister, Ellie," Sarah said while trying not to cringe. _ Congratulations, Captain Obvious. You just taught her her own name. Bang up job._

Understanding dawned on Ellie's expression. "Oh, Chuck mentioned that a little girl had tripped and that he met her sister. You are the sister, I take it?" Ellie's eyes seemed to light up at the prospect. _She seems excited by that. Wait, Chuck already told her about our meeting? That must be a good sign._

"Yes, it was my little sister Molly. I swear that I could feel my heart in my throat when she fell off of the pier," Sarah paled slightly as the terror that she had felt in that moment washed over her once again.

Ellie's voice grew quiet, "She _fell_ off of the pier?"

Sarah recognized the change in tone, but wasn't sure what had caused it. "Your brother was pretty amazing. Everyone else was frozen in place, but he just went right in after her. A text book deep water entry too, I might add." Sarah couldn't hide the pride that she had for Chuck, and she didn't feel the need to when talking with the man's own sister. "He's quite the hero."

"Yes, well, Mr. Hero and I are going to have a discussion in the future about candor. He mentioned that, Molly was it, tripped. But he managed to somehow leave out the little detail that she fell off of the pier. How high up was she when she fell?"

Sarah blanched, realizing that she had inadvertently gotten Chuck in trouble with his sister, when she had been trying to praise him for his bravery. _Uh oh. This is so not going according to plan_. "Ocean Rescue estimated the height at 25 feet," Sarah replied with a wince.

Ellie's demeanor again changed in the blink of an eye. "Ocean Rescue was involved? Is she ok? Are you sure? That's a major fall that could inflict trauma, especially on one so young. Are there any signs of a concussion? Dizziness? Memory issues? Did she follow up with a doctor yet? I'd be happy to take a look at her for you, just to be safe."

"We kept a careful watch on her overnight," Sarah replied, feeling the unusual need to reassure a virtual stranger. "Aside from being scared witless, there doesn't seem to be any residual effects from the fall. She seems fine physically. But Chuck even helped with that part. He was pretty amazing with his ability to keep her calm. By the time he got her to shore she wasn't very upset."

Ellie got a soft grin on her face, her frustration with her brother forgotten, temporarily at least. "He's always been great with kids." Ellie's face fell a bit, "Of course, that idiot best friend of his acts like a child most of the time. So, Chuck gets more practice than most single guys his age. I'm glad that he was there, and more glad to hear that Molly is ok. Plus, with her being four, we don't have to worry about a repeat of the disaster that happened the last time he went into the water to save someone."

Sarah was confused, "What was the disaster last time? He said that he had to save some former co-worker not long ago, but that the guy was so drunk that he likely didn't even remember the rescue and kept being rude to Chuck even after Chuck saved his life. Chuck was so calm and collected yesterday that it didn't surprise me that it wasn't his first rescue."

Ellie's face reflected shock. "It seems that this morning wasn't the first time Mr. Hero failed to tell me some details. I was actually referring to a time back in college when he wound up dating a woman that he saved from drowning. He was working as a lifeguard and her appendix ruptured while she was swimming in the pool. Because Chuck pays attention to pretty much anything and everything, he was able to remember helping me to study up on appendicitis when I was going through medical school. He saved her life, and they started dating. Two years in, Chuck has convinced himself that he's in love with her. Right up until he caught her cheating on him with his roommate. In his own bed," Ellie growled out. "Apparently, even though she was smart enough to get into Stanford, she wasn't smart enough to know the definition of monogamy."

"Chuck is fiercely, fiercely loyal," Ellie continued. "That betrayal hurt him- a lot. Not that the skank returned the favor of his rescuing her, unless you call cheating on Chuck saving his life. Although, it did convince him to break up with her, so in a way it did save him."

A look of horror crossed Ellie's face as she realized what she had just disclosed. "Please don't tell Chuck that I mentioned Jill. Even a reference to her is practically forbidden around here. I almost wish that Chuck had just let her drown. That's really rude of me to say, buuuut it's also kinda true."

"Oh, and I've also apparently completely forgotten my manners. Please come in. Could I interest you in a cup of coffee? Chuck brewed it. He's pretty much a trainwreck in the kitchen, but he makes a hell of a cup of coffee."

Sarah was pretty much powerless to say no to Ellie when she looked so hopeful that Sarah would join her. Sarah gave a tight grin as she walked into the apartment. A look around showed that it was homey, comfortable and lived in, but well kept.

Fortunately for her, Ellie went directly into the kitchen to get Sarah her coffee and freshen her own cup at the same time. It gave Sarah a moment to reign in control of her emotions, which had blazed with anger over the betrayal by his college girlfriend, compassion for Chuck at going through such a horrible experience, as well as jealousy over the fact that Chuck had already known love-albeit a misplaced emotion given the circumstances.

Ellie returned to the table with two steaming mugs of coffee. Sarah moaned lightly as she took in a sip. It was that good. But it also gave Sarah a break from the conversation to mull over all of the information that she just took in, without any socially awkward silence. And there was a lot of information to unpack. She was still thinking about the tidbits that Ellie had offered when they both heard the click of a door opening down the hallway.

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Chuck walked into the kitchen, the towel around his waist secured in his grip, with droplets of water falling from his curls. Ellie spun to face Sarah, her eyes comically wide as she realized that her brother was completely unaware that they had company, and it was the woman he had been mooning about earlier.

Chuck began rifling through one of the cabinets, "Ellie have you seen…" He straightened and turned to his sister, suddenly aware that they were not alone in the apartment as he had mistakenly believed. "Sar…" He gulped, willing his voice to stop sounding like a pre-pubescent boy. "Sarah, what are you doing here? Sorry! Sorry, that sounded rude. Not that you are not welcome here. Because you are. Welcome here that is, not that you are here. Because here you clearly are. Here. Which is fine. For you to be…here. Why do I keep saying 'here'? Seriously, what is wrong with me?"

Ellie had two hands over her mouth, trying desperately to hold in the laughter that was causing her whole body to shake. Sarah's eyes were sparkling with mirth (which didn't help Chuck's efforts to stop spiraling, as it made her look even more beautiful-which he had not thought was remotely possible). "I stopped by to thank you properly for saving Molly. Ellie was nice enough to invite me in for some of this incredible coffee. Your sister is rather awesome in her own right."  
"Indeed," Chuck said with a wide grin.

Ellie, however, groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh, god. Please tell me that he doesn't have you calling people awesome as well."

Sarah let out an uninhibited laugh, surprising herself in the process but thrilled with how freeing such a simple act felt.

"I'm just going to…uh, I need…(his hand holding up the towel fisted so hard that his knuckles turned white as he realized his state of undress)…I'm just going to get some clothes on," Chuck finally stammered out.

"Don't go changing on my account," Sarah called out to Chuck's retreating form, which caused him to move even faster.

Ellie promptly snorted into her coffee mug, "You and I are going to have so much fun together. So much!"

Sarah had a huge grin as she laughed along with her co-conspirator in the playful torment of Chuck Bartowski.

A moment later a chime came from Ellie's cellphone. "Ugh, I have to go cover a shift at the hospital. I just got done. You, my dear, have to come around again. It was too much fun having you help me tease Chuck. Besides, I clearly can't trust Chuck when it comes to him giving details about his own heroics. Now, if you get him and his idiot friend talking about sandwiches and deserted islands, you can't get him to shut up. Believe me, I've tried."

Ellie gave a good natured laugh, which belied the sentiment she had just hinted. She clearly enjoyed having a bit of fun at her brother's expense, but just as clearly adored the younger man. With a last beaming smile towards her guest, Ellie gathered up her doctor's jacket, backpack and keys. She headed out the door with a friendly wave over her shoulder.

Sarah was stunned at the kind doctor having no qualms whatsoever about letting someone who was practically a stranger stay in her home. The spy in her was shocked that someone could be so trusting. The woman in her was thrilled that Ellie was so clearly approving of Sarah and her brother spending time together. Which was good, as Sarah was more and more interested in spending time with Chuck.

What was more, she realized that she would also have fun spending time around Ellie. For a woman who had spent all of her adulthood and most of her childhood content to be alone, after a short time in the company of the Bartowski siblings, Sarah realized that she not only enjoyed company but wanted more of it. She wanted to count Ellie as a friend. Truth be told, she wanted something more than just friendship with Chuck. She had felt the connection on the beach, and again when he had just entered the kitchen. She trusted Chuck Bartowski, and Sarah Walker didn't trust anyone other than herself. She didn't know what to make of, or do about, that.

Truth. Trust. Two words that her father had assured her were bastions for patsies, for suckers just asking to be played. Those who told the truth and trusted anyone other than themselves were responsible for whatever befell them- at least in the Tao of Jack Burton. For Director Graham, learning the truth from a mark and establishing their trust were just means by which she could achieve the objective of a mission. Fundamentally different analyses but with the same conclusions. Trust no one. Only tell the truth when the truth suits you. But Sarah was coming to realize that, just like the life of violence at which she had excelled while with the CIA, the definition of truth and trust was not the life that she had any interest in leading any longer.

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A/N 2: I realize that there was very little interaction between Chuck and Sarah in this chapter. But the morning meeting isn't over. I had to break it up into two sections.

As of now, this looks like it's going to be 15 chapters and an epilogue.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Binary System

A/N: As mentioned in a author's note on Ch. 1, this story was delayed to include Christmas in response to a Christmas challenge from David Carner. I mentioned in an author's note on Ch.2 that the story is going to be 15 chapters and an epilogue (although it is almost guaranteed to be slightly longer – I was adding a transition scene that I thought would take a couple paragraphs, but wound up adding 1500 words…and the original idea I had for a Christmas theme scene still hasn't even been written). Looking at a calendar and looking at the length of this story, I realize that one update a week isn't going to get us where we need to be before a certain jolly elf rewards good boys and girls by breaking and entering their houses. While I still have a couple areas of serious revision, the goal now is to update twice a week.

While Chapter 2 had very little interaction between Chuck and Sarah, this chapter is nothing but the two of them. I won't say there is real angst here, but this chapter is (briefly) about as serious as this story will get. Don't worry, it's about 90% fluff.

As before, any italics indicate the thoughts of a character rather than spoken dialogue.

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There was still a slight tint of blush to Chuck's cheeks as he re-emerged from the hallway, fully clothed, to find Sarah seated alone at the dining table. This is a good guy, Sarah thought to herself, who just happened to risk his life to save a little girl whom he didn't know. To him, truth and trust were rules to be followed strictly throughout his life, not the punch line to a joke.

"I…uh…" Chuck stammered out, still clearly flustered from his earlier encounter with Sarah and Ellie. He then quickly collected himself, raising his head to look her in the eyes. "I never thought that I would see you again. Not that I'm not happy to see you. I am. Happy that is. Although I'm also seeing you again, so…I am happy to see you again. Thrilled even. To see you that is." He then paused, clearly trying to regain his equilibrium.

He suddenly looked deep in thought before turning to look her in the eye. "How is it that I am seeing you here at my apartment? I mean, I get that my sister let you into the apartment and all. But how did you know where to find me? You only knew me as 'Chuck', and Ocean Rescue took off with you and Molly before we exchanged numbers." Chuck ended up looking at her quizzically for a moment. Sarah was thinking how unusual it was that she recognized the fact that he remembered the name of a four year old girl that he met only once under rather extreme circumstances as being quintessentially Chuck.

Sarah had anticipated the conversation taking a little longer before the question of how she knew where to find him would come up, but clearly Chuck was brilliant. Still, she decided to deflect to buy herself some time before getting into the details that would reveal her former profession. "So, you were that sure you would get my phone number at the beach, huh?"

As expected, Chuck's eyes flared open at her comment and at the presumption in his statement that they would have exchanged numbers. Sarah let out a laugh to show that she wasn't upset or offended, but merely having a go at him. Chuck relaxed into a rueful grin before his face morphed into a chagrined look. Sarah was caught completely off guard by the sudden change. _What does Chuck have to be embarrassed about? He knows that I was only teasing him. Hell, I spent the whole ride with Ocean Rescue kicking myself for not asking for his phone number_ _before we parted_.

Chuck quickly made it clear why he was so chagrined- and it was such a Chuck reason that Sarah nearly laughed again. "Oh my gosh! Molly! Here I am babbling about me, and I never even asked how she is doing. Is she ok? Is there anything I can do for her, get for her? Give to you to give to her? Anything?"

"I hope that she isn't hurt." Chuck was quickly starting to spiral into a full on panic attack. "Did I do anything wrong? Did the lifeguards say that there was something that I should have done differently?"

Chuck stopped spiraling and instead looked confused as Sarah wrapped her arms around her waist and doubled over, rocking back and forth with laughter. _He is beyond good. In fact, he's pretty close to perfect._ "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude and laugh at you. They are legitimate questions, even if tinged with a wee bit of hysteria. Molly's fine. Scared, but fine. Your sister has even offered to check on her to be sure that everything checks out."

"You should definitely take Ellie up on that," Chuck responded in all seriousness. "I know that all brothers would say that their sister is the best. But Ellie is legitimately the top neurosurgeon at Westside Regional. So, please let her check Molly out. El will make absolutely sure that nothing was missed."

Sarah stared at Chuck for a moment, not trusting herself to speak out loud. _He's cute-ish, brave, considerate, funny and wickedly intelligent. It is quite the combination in a man. And damn, but that makes me want to just jump him right here. Ok, he's talking about my four year old 'sister' and I'm thinking about sex. Something is wrong with this picture. I'm still thinking about sex, but something is still wrong with this picture_.

"But we got off of the topic of a moment ago," Chuck continued on, clueless as to the nature of Sarah's thoughts. "How did you know where to find me? I'm not upset- like at all, not in the least- that you did." Chuck looked down briefly before muttering, "Neither apparently is my sister." Looking back up to look Sarah in the eyes, he continued, "I'm just curious as to the how."

_Of course you are curious_, Sarah thought to herself. It was now her turn to look chagrined. _You knew from Casey's report that Chuck was smart. Well, you already knew on the beach, but the report confirmed it in spades. You should have anticipated that this would be one of the first questions that he had. You also knew that you were willing to face the question in order to spend a little more time with Chuck. The issue is: now that you've spent a little more time with him, you want to spend more time with him. A lot more. And now you'd like to hang out with Ellie as well. Truth and Trust. If you want Chuck in your life, you are going to have to be honest with him, and hope that when all is said and all is done that Chuck will still want you in his life._

Sarah took in a deep, calming breath. _There's something about Chuck that makes him special, so different from any man that I've ever met. Time to go out of your comfort zone and be completely honest with him_. "Well, until recently I was working for the government. I pulled a couple of strings to get your contact information." _And apparently we are taking baby steps approach to honesty_.

"Wait, wait, wait," Chuck broke in excitedly. "Were you an astronaut? 'Cause that whole swinging on a rope from the top of the pier was so cool. An astronaut would be badass enough to pull off that move and still be super casual about it like you were."

Sarah felt herself blushing-again. _What is it about this guy that he gets me flustered so easily?_ "Nope. Not an astronaut." She didn't volunteer any more information. The idea of coming completely clean, of telling someone so good about so many horrible things she had done in the service to their country, it was terrifying. _The Ice Queen, terrified. What is it about this guy_?

"You noticed that move did you? I may have been a bit nervous about Molly and wanted to get down to you guys as quickly as possible." _And now I'm trying to change the subject. Baby steps to honesty, Walker, baby steps_.

Chuck just grinned at her, openly, honestly. "Noticed? That was the coolest thing that I have ever seen. Like in the history of ever. I figured that if you were an astronaut that it would explain the whole 'hey, just thought I'd take the shortcut from the Pier. No biggie.' That was the vibe that you were totally giving off. Plus, how cool would it be to tell people that I've met a real, live astronaut."

"Much cooler than telling them that you met a dead one." _What in the hell did I just say?_

Chuck just stared at her slack jawed for a moment before letting out a fully on, belly laugh. "What can I say? When you are right, you are right."

Sarah shook her head and briefly looked away in order to collect herself. _I am just so sunk. I admit to being scared -trying the whole honesty approach, or at least initial attempt at honesty approach. And instead of seeing my fear as weakness or a way to diminish me, Chuck proceeds to ignore the admission of fear and focus on-emphasize even-how cool what I did was. Instead of trying to make himself look better at my expense by pointing out that he had willingly launched himself off of the pier without a moment's hesistation, Chuck instead promotes my actions. Holds me up as the model of coolness under (figurative) fire. Sunk_.

"Still, that would have been so cool. Ooh, wait. Were you like James Bond? Er, I guess, Jane Bond? The name's Walker, Sarah Walker 007," Chuck said while attempting a British accent.

"Bond was MI6, Chuck," Sarah demurred. _What happened to the honesty plan, Walker? He just practically gift wrapped the opportunity, the perfect segue into your life…past life_. After a moment of silence, Sarah sucked in a breath and continued. "But, essentially, yes. Before I quit, I worked for the CIA as a deep cover agent."

Chuck's eyes grew wide all over again. "And I was thinking that you couldn't get any cooler than you already were. You, Sarah Walker, are pretty amazing."

"So, full disclosure," Sarah continued, _or close enough to a full disclosure for now_, as relief flooded through her that Chuck had neither freaked out nor asked any follow up questions on whether she had a license to kill. "I asked a former…colleague for your contact information. He may have provided me with slightly more data than your name and address." Sarah winced at the understatement.

Noticing that Sarah appeared a little tense, Chuck offered up a joke, "What, did he tell you where I went to college?"

Wincing even further, Sarah responded, "Your full academic transcript. Even your SAT score. Very impressive by the way. But then, Stanford isn't the type of school know for handing out full academic scholarships lightly."

Chuck sat back, a bit stunned that the government had been able to marshal that much information on him so quickly. He was also a little nervous. It was extremely unlikely that there were any links between him and Piranha, but had he been good enough at erasing his tracks to be sure that there were no breadcrumbs for the government to follow to his door? He'd left Piranha behind at Stanford, with the hacker turning into a bit of an urban legend.

Then again, if someone had asked him yesterday morning whether he thought that he would be sharing breakfast in his apartment with a stunningly beautiful former CIA agent, he also would have viewed that as extremely unlikely. Yet, here he was sharing breakfast with Sarah, so it was possible that he had missed out on some minor, obscure hacking foot print.

"So, you know all about me. Which is, admittedly, a little strange to say to someone who you met less than 24 hours ago," Chuck offered with a wry grin. Sarah noted the "someone you met" phrasing, as though they had bumped into each other at a coffee shop, instead of him risking life and limb to save her little sister. She knew that at this point she should not be surprised by Chuck's modest nature. But then again, it was so refreshingly honest that Sarah realized that it was a surprise that she rather enjoyed. The fact that she enjoyed the surprise was surprising in and of itself, as spies hate surprises.

That thought brought her up short as it served as a reminder that she was no longer a spy. She had always hated surprises. As a young girl, her father's announcement of a "surprise" was always inevitably followed by a name change and an immediate departure to another town one step ahead of the police.

"But all that I know about you is that your name is Sarah Walker and that you are a spy." Chuck's eyes grew wide as Sarah immediately broke eye contact to stare intently at her mug of coffee.

"Was a spy. Past tense," Sarah said while still staring at the coffee.

"But your name isn't really Sarah Walker, is it?" Chuck asked.

Sarah finally looked up from her coffee. "Even though I quit the Agency, there are a lot of things that I can't tell you. And it's likely that I would never be able to tell you." _I want there to be further conversations. I need for there to be further conversations between us. I've gotten a glimpse of what life is like with Chuck Bartowski in it. And I like it. I really, really like it_. "Who, what, when, where, how. None of that can be discussed regarding my past missions. I trust you, but these security measures are in place for a reason."

"Many of my missions had a local asset assisting me in some way. When a foreign government finds out that one of their citizens helped a CIA agent, that citizen usually winds up dead. I can't, and I won't, risk their lives. I may know a lot of facts about you, Chuck, but I also know that you wouldn't want the lives of complete strangers to be put in danger just to satisfy your curiosity."

"As for your question, it's complicated," Sarah said with a wince at the end. "Legally, going forward my name is Sarah Walker. When I wasn't operating under a cover name on a CIA mission, I was known as Sarah Walker. But no, that is not the name that I was born with."

"I've never been an open book," Sarah continued. "I'm clearly not the 'wear your heart on your sleeve' type of a person. I've never been very good at talking about my feelings. But it's somehow easier when I'm with you. It's still not easy, not remotely. But it is easier. And it means a lot when I'm able to do it."

Sarah paused to gather her thoughts, taking a moment to look around the apartment. "When I was little, my parents separated. I took off with my dad-unknowingly hurting my mom in the process. Mom was all about rules and structure. Do your homework, get good grades. Dad was about travel, adventure, excitement. It wasn't until I got older that I realized that it wasn't travel, it was fleeing town before the police closed in. It wasn't adventure, it was larceny. My father was-still is most likely-a con artist. But even after I realized that what we were doing was…wrong, illegal, immoral, call it what you will…I kept doing it. Then, one day when I was in high school, a con went south. Badly. My father was arrested by the Feds, and the CIA Director personally recruited me into the Agency."

Sarah fell silent. She had never shared that story with another human being, and she felt emotionally exhausted. It was barely 8:30 in the morning, and she was spent. She continued to compare herself, her situation, to Chuck and she wondered why he hadn't thrown her out of his apartment yet.

Chuck leaned back in his chair, slowly exhaling as he too looked away from the table. _Here it comes. Being the smart guy that he is, Chuck has realized that he's better off without Sarah Walker in his life. But would he realize that Sarah Walker was so much better off with Chuck Bartowski in hers_?

"I've spent years convinced that my father would win the award for the worst dad ever," Chuck stated. "But after hearing that, I'm thinking that what your father put you through was worse."

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed, wondering if Casey's background report had failed to mention a tendency to experience psychotic episodes.

"I mean, look at the facts: (1) you are a fundamentally good person- you risked your own safety to get to your sister as quickly as possible, you cared about my well being in addition to that of Molly's, and you tracked me down because apparently you thought that you hadn't thanked me enough on the beach; and (2) I know first-hand that as a young child you act in a way to get approval and encouragement from your parents, and that when things are stressful you work that much harder for the parental stamp of approval."

"I don't know that he did it intentionally, grooming you to be a grifter, but even if it was inadvertent, it was some horrible parenting. I'm guessing that after a successful con, especially where you played some role, that he took you out to celebrate afterwards?"

"Rocky Road," Sarah said in a near whisper.

"Huh?" Chuck uttered, confused by the apparent non-sequiter from the beautiful former spy.

"Rocky Road. Whenever Dad was especially proud of me we would celebrate with Rocky Road." Sarah realized that she had never shared that little bit of personal history with anyone else before. She was glad that it was Chuck she had shared this with. It felt—special. She also realized that while Chuck was inherently open and sharing, she suspected that this bit of Bartowski family history was more sharing than he normally did. That few people had been told much about what he went through. But now she knew. It felt important. It also felt special. And it felt like a weight had been removed from her shoulders, and that she had Chuck to thank for that.

"So, you did something that you may not have immediately appreciated was illegal or just wrong, and it makes your dad proud of you. So the next time you work that much harder in order to make your dad proud again. And by the time that you are old enough to realize that what you are doing is wrong, you keep doing it in order to keep winning your father's approval, for him to demonstrate that he loves you by buying you your favorite ice cream."

"And yet," Chuck continued undeterred, "despite that skewed perspective of adolescent right versus wrong, you became this good person as an adult. You're pretty incredible, Sarah Walker," Chuck finished, looking at her with a combination of respect and admiration.

Sarah could see the sincerity in his eyes. She admitted to a childhood of crime, but he focused on her ability to rise above it-not that her work with the CIA wasn't often the same, it was just done in the name of national security rather than ill gotten gains. It was as though Chuck forgot that he was the hero here. He was the incredible one at this impromptu breakfast discussion.

"I can see that you're a little skeptical still," Chuck continued, causing Sarah to wonder what had happened to her ability to maintain a poker face in any situation. What had become of the infamous (in CIA circles) Ice Queen? "But there was the rope swing from the Pier like a modern day Errol Flynn, except of course that you are clearly a woman," Chuck's voice tapered off at the end, once again blushing a violent red. But Sarah had noticed that Chuck hadn't ogled her or turned the 'clearly a woman' statement into some sort of cheesy pick up line. He had been looking her in the eyes the whole time. _Still, it's nice to get confirmation that he noticed_.

"Then," Chuck continued, as though determined to push forward from his slip of the tongue, "there is, or was, the career as a CIA spy. Risking imprisonment or even death while abroad, but for no fame or public accolade. I watched a story about the Wall of Heroes in the atrium of the CIA headquarters. A gold star representing each man or woman killed in action with the CIA. But even at your own headquarters, there were no names attached. Even in death there was anonymity. You risked your life to make my life, and the lives of everyone else in this country safer, but in obscurity."

Sarah was stunned. She remained silent for a moment as she processed all that Chuck had just said, just revealed to her about herself. She had to re-evaluate her whole self-analysis because of this wonderful man. She was the daughter of a con artist. She spent a decade in a career where there was zero trust, of both competition and colleagues. Constant suspicion of the opposition, your own team, and everyone in between. A job where everyone was jaded. Just like her father's job.

And yet…and yet Chuck had made valid points. For a regular person her fast rope deployment from the Pier to the beach would have seemed terrifying. And Molly wasn't her sister by blood. But Sarah had felt a need to get to her any way possible, as quickly as possible. To save and protect her. _That was the sign of a good person, wasn't it? It was just that Chuck had already saved Molly, protected her, even before Sarah could get there. And he was most definitely a good person_.

And then there was her CIA work. How many knife and gunshot wounds had the surgeons at the CIA patched up and hidden away? And who knew about these injuries and all of the successful missions that she had? A handful of supervisors, if that.

"I get why you think what you think about my dad. You've made some good points, really good points. Brought up things that I've never considered. I'm going to have to do some serious thinking about them. But what about your dad? Your parents? The background report only listed their names and 'whereabouts unknown'."

Chuck cringed, pausing for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Sarah instantly regretted the question. She was curious, deeply curious. But it clearly was a question that opened up old wounds. Of anyone, she could appreciate that-and the preference to let those old wounds stay closed. But he had already helped her with her issues with her father and her childhood. Maybe she could help him. _No social skills, and no relationship skills, yet you expect to help Chuck? Keep dreaming sister_.

"Before my dad," Chuck began quietly, staring at his hands clasped before him on the table, "there was my mom. When we were little, she would occasionally go away for a bit. But she always seemed so happy when she was back home, as though she hated being apart from us. Then one day, when I was around 9 or so, she left a family heirloom with me before going away. But she never returned to get it. After that, my dad spent more and more time locked away in his room. Even when he came out, he was so distracted that he wasn't really there. Even though she was only 15 at the time, Ellie started taking on more and more responsibilities. Parental responsibilities: paying bills, buying groceries, preparing meals, helping me with my homework. My dad was so out of it that I don't think that he even realized that she was doing it, that he kept dropping the ball that Ellie would then have to catch before it shattered on the ground."

"To this day, I regret that I didn't pay attention. That I didn't pick up some of the load so that Ellie didn't have to shoulder it herself," Chuck admitted, pain lacing through his words.

"Chuck, you were only 9! How were you to know what was happening?" Sarah jumped to his defense as he was clearly not going to defend himself.

"Ellie was only 15. Two years older than Romeo and Juliet. They made some rash decisions, which they and their families paid the price for. But Ellie didn't have the luxury of making a rash decision. She had to raise me while being responsible to raise herself. Anyway, my dad didn't seem to realize what Ellie was doing, the sacrifices that she was making. Over time he started to spend more and more time locked away in his room. Hours became a full day. Soon he would stay in there for days at an end. One day, for the first time in months, he came out and spent some time with me and Ellie. After a bit, he gave us a smile and told us that he was going out to get the ingredients for pancakes. He even gave us a wave as he headed out of the door," Chuck said, his voice breaking at the end.

Sarah physically ached for Chuck. She wasn't sure of the remaining details, but she had a pretty good idea of where this story was going. What she didn't understand was how he could go through life so positive, so upbeat, when his past bore so many scars. He thought that she was incredible? What standard was he using to judge himself if he didn't think that, only moreso, with regard to himself?

Chuck's eyes were now glistening with tears, and Sarah's heart breaking piece by piece as each detail had been revealed. _Who would abandon their children like that? Ellie had seemed pretty awesome before I learned that she became the de facto head of household and surrogate mother to her brother at age 15. And Chuck, faced with abandonment by both parents still had developed into the most open, friendly and caring person I've ever met, outside of my own mom_.

Sarah decided to end the silence that had descended over the room like a dark cloak, "We're going to have to agree to disagree on whose dad was worse. My dad had more than his share of failings as a parent, some of which I've only started to appreciate thanks to you, but he never ditched me." She was aware of the fact that she felt incredibly protective of Chuck, a compulsion to ease his pain. She was more upset over his parents abandoning him than she was over her own father raising her to be the perfect con artist. Sarah chose not to dwell on why she was so protective of Chuck, just accepting it as her new reality. Hopefully her chest wouldn't have the physical ache every day as painfully as it ached at that moment. But even if it did, she would gladly accept that pain if it meant preventing Chuck from feeling the pain himself.

Sarah also intuitively knew that, while Chuck was typically an open and sharing kind of person, this discussion covered far more information than Chuck would share with more than a few select people. The rescue of Molly was a traumatic event, and the ensuing adrenaline rush would have explained a momentary lapse of reason with Chuck revealing more personal details than he otherwise would have. But the rescue was yesterday. The adrenaline was long gone from both of their systems.

Sarah accepted the fact that she was now one of a small circle of people who knew what Chuck had gone through as a child. And she was a member of that circle by Chuck's choice. Over the span of a few minutes, she had gone from being convinced that she had run Chuck off to realizing that she was somehow in his inner circle of friends. _Could it be that he's as far gone for me as I am for him_?

After a few more moments of silence, Chuck regained his voice, "I guess that I kind of brought the mood in the room down, didn't I?"

"Considering that you first entered the room wearing nothing but a towel and a smile, the mood started off about as high as it could get," Sarah responded with a smouldering look that left Chuck stunned. Scrunching her nose with her grin, Sarah continued, "But yeah, it got a little dark with our dad bashing contest."

Chuck was still stunned, trying and failing to process the thought that Sarah Walker was hitting on him. She had pulled strings to track him down, and was now sitting in his apartment flirting with him. The most amazing woman he'd ever met-and that was before he learned about her badass prior career-had sought him out and was clearly flirting with him. His mouth decided to act while his mind was still tied up in knots.

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A/N2: I know it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, but we'll get to learn what comes out of Chuck's mouth this weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Crossing the Event Horizon

A/N: A couple of reviews commented on the last chapter ending on a cliffhanger (or fluffhanger as the case may be). It wasn't designed to be that way, it was just the best spot to break up the scene and still have the story points flow smoothly. But, as I indicated in the last note, I'm planning on having a shorter time between updates in order to have the Christmas events in the story get posted close to Christmas day.

Reviews, follows and favorites are all appreciated as they give feedback as to whether the story works. As noted previously, any words in italics indicate the thoughts of the character rather than spoken dialogue.

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"Do you want to go out and grab lunch or something with me?" Chuck blurted out before processing what he was saying.

"Well, what is the 'or something' that you'd like me to grab?" Sarah asked with another sultry look in his direction, before her eyes grew wide as she realized just how her question sounded. "Please ignore that last question. It was supposed to be smooth, but when I heard it out loud, it sounded a little…lecherous. Like something my friend Carina would say."

As she had been speaking, Chuck's eyebrows had shot so far up his forehead that they had disappeared into the mop of his curly hair. "So, um, is that a no to lunch then?"

"No!" Sarah blurted out. "I mean yes. I mean no, it's not a no. It's a…"

Sarah bent down with her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, "How in the hell do you get me so flustered? I've faced down despots. I once crushed a revolution with nothing but a spork. What is your deal?" Sarah ended in accusation, before dropping her hands. After a moment, she stood and took two steps to the door before pausing and looking over her shoulder. "Well, are you taking me to lunch or what?" She decided that actions were safer than words when she was around Chuck Bartowski. At least until she was able to have the ability to talk to Chuck without sounding like a schoolgirl with a crush.

"I, uh," Chuck stammered out looking a little stunned by Sarah's outburst, and her rapid about face, before looking sheepish, "I kind of spoke without checking my watch." He waved the offending item in the air. "It's actually few minutes before 10:30, soooo unless we're road-tripping, we're seriously early."

Sarah got a glint in her eyes that made Chuck swallow- - hard.

"Don't freak out," Chuck murmured to himself, although he wasn't sure if he'd be freaking out in a good way or a bad way.

[San Diego 1 hour later]

"You know, it usually takes me a good hour just to get across LA. I'm still trying to figure out how you managed to get from Burbank to San Diego in that time," Chuck mentioned as they strolled down the beach, shoes dangling from their hands.

"You would have had an easier time sorting that out if your eyes hadn't been shut the entire way," Sarah said with a good natured laugh and a shoulder bump. Chuck had been thoroughly smitten before, but this carefree version of Sarah was even more attractive-which didn't even seem possible, yet was.

"Excuse me," Chuck responded with faux outrage. "After you pulled that high speed lane change where your bumper LITERALLY went underneath the bumper of that semi, I knew that for the sake of my sanity that I would be better off with my eyes closed."

"Excuse you!" Sarah responded with equal faux outrage. "You were the one egging me on. 'There's no possible way you can make it to San Diego in that time. Can't be done.'"

"That wasn't me egging you on! That was me stating a law of physics that had never been broken until you came along. I was just worried that you were going to try to defy the whole 'two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time' rule as well. Pretty sure that one can't be broken."

"You know," Chuck continued undeterred, trying to focus on anything other than the fact that after her shoulder bump Sarah was walking so close to him that the backs of their hands brushed with each pass. All he needed to do was summon up the courage to reach out, even just with his pinky, and they could be hand in hand. Unfortunately, his summoning didn't conjure up enough courage for that. "I've been to San Diego bunches of times. Admittedly, it was mostly to attend Comic-Con, but I've never made it out to Coronado Beach before. This is pretty amazing."

"What's Comic-Con," Sarah asked, her fears spiking over the association with the second half of the name.

"Hah! Good one," Chuck responded, before facing her and realizing that she wasn't kidding. "What's Comic-Con? You're…you're not kidding are you? Comic-Con is pretty much the most amazing annual event in history. There are all of these panels from movies and tv shows. There's all of these cosplay graphic novel events. You get all of the stars, producers, directors, writers. And then there are the fans. They really go all out. We're talking crazy attention to detail all out with their costumes. It's pretty incredible, but it's also a lot to take in for people who aren't totally into that kind of stuff."

Chuck put his hands in his pockets in order to focus on their conversation and not the feel of her hand brushing across his. It came off as kind of creepy, stalkerish to be that focused on casual contact. He stared out to sea, wondering what a (former) secret agent would think of a guy admitting to being a hard core fan of comic books and movies. _Just great, Chuck. Sarah drives you all of the way to San Diego, Coronado Beach no less, to thank you for saving her little sister, and you have to shove your nerd cred in her face_.

Sarah didn't notice Chuck's distraction, as she saw the hotel looming in the distance, lost in her own thoughts. _A childhood con artist who picked (kind of) a career that utilized the same or similar skills of lying, stealing, and never letting anyone get to know the real you. Dad always said that love was for suckers, while Carina loved to point out that spies don't fall in love. Chuck is too good of a person to spend time with me just because he finds me beautiful. He had a shitty childhood as well, but he still turned out honest and caring. So, what's your excuse Sarah? Or should I say, Sam_?

The two continued their journey up the beach, the sounds of seagulls and gently rolling waves temporarily drowned out by the roar of a Navy jet passing overhead to land at the nearby naval air station. Previously they had been walking side by side, but when Chuck had jammed his hands into the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt in order to preserve his sanity and ability to focus on the conversation and not the feel the brush of her hand, they unconsciously drifted a foot or so apart.

Sarah already missed the contact. _So, so gone already. I wasn't even holding hands with the guy. If this was a mission, I would know a topic to steer the conversation towards. But this isn't a mission. And apparently I absolutely suck at small talk when not on the job. And I don't even have the job as an excuse anymore. C'mon Chuck, you're the social butterfly here. Save me_.

As if on cue, Chuck spoke up, "You, uh, you never did say where it is that we are headed now that we are at Coronado Beach. What place have you picked for lunch even if your- how did you describe it again? 'Efficient'- driving has gotten us here on the early side for lunch." His grin that reached all they way to his eyes took away any bite from his words.

Sarah beamed at his response. _My hero, again, even if he doesn't realize it this time_. "I booked us a table for brunch, so technically we are right on time. It's at the Crown Room in the Hotel Del Coronado. And the hotel happens to be just up ahead of us."

Chuck's grin widened further. He dipped his head in acknowledgement that Sarah had played that well. That caused her to smile even wider. As they continued their oceanfront stroll towards the hotel, the gap between them disappeared once again and the brushing of hands became more frequent than before.

Chuck and Sarah arrived at the Hotel Del Coronado where Sarah had made brunch reservations at the Crown Room en route from Burbank. While being led to their table, both clearly overhear a group of men talking. "I'm telling you that is definitely her, she operated under the call sign Ice Queen. She was all business. Must be here on a mission. You should have seen her in action. Lethal doesn't describe the carnage she created."

After listening to the man go on for several minutes about a highly classified operation, and aware that Chuck was finding out the truth that she had been afraid to share, Sarah finally stormed over to the table, her blue eyes ice cold yet blazing in anger. "Do you not understand operational security? I should have let your worthless ass bleed out at that forward operating base in Ukraine. But I'll have you know that I'm here on a date with a civilian. So, unless you want me to trash this room using your face, you will shut the hell up!"

Sarah stormed right back to her table before realizing that Chuck is sitting there wide eyed, having just heard everything that she said. She then slumped down into the chair, clearly dejected.

"Okay, first of all, that guy looks intimidating as hell and you just made him piss in his pants. Which was pretty scary but at the same time the sexiest thing I've ever seen. But more importantly, this is a date? Like a date date not just a grab some food together date? That kind of a date?"

"Ugh, I should kick his ass for ruining this. I thought I was being suave with the brunch on the beach and some SEAL I ran an op with years ago just had to be here. Damn it!"

"I'd say let's just go somewhere else, but I was really looking forward to bringing you to brunch here," Sarah grumbled. "I just didn't anticipate brunch being spoiled by my past work life."

"Ha," Chuck barked out a laugh, before looking over at Sarah's downtrodden expression. "Wait. You seriously think that a Navy SEAL going on and on about how badass you are ruined brunch? You do, don't you? Oh man, Navy SEALs are, like, mythical creatures, but he is in awe of you! That just makes you even more awesome than I thought before. And to be honest, I didn't think there was a category for being more awesome." Chuck fell silent as his brain caught up to his mouth admitting how smitten he was.

"Besides," he continued as he cast his eyes around the room for a way out of the verbal box he had just trapped himself in, "we already paid for brunch, and that food looks and smells amazing. How can we ditch without eating something? It would break the heart of our server. Look at the poor guy."

Sarah cast a glance over at their server who was looking about as bored as humanly possible. She let out an indelicate snort as she concluded that Chuck didn't want to end their date any more than she did.

"Well, we did drive all this way," Sarah acknowledged. "It would be a shame to skip out without our meal."

Chuck shot up out of his seat, extending a hand to help Sarah up. She popped an eyebrow, but let him help her to her feet. They headed over to the buffet, Sarah piling nearly as much food on her plate as Chuck did on his. His eyebrows rose at the generous portion.

"Clearly you haven't spent much time in LA," he said, the humour evident in his tone.

"What, because I'm starving after missing out on dinner last night and breakfast this morning?"

"Can I be totally honest here," Chuck asked.

_Like you could be any other way? I think trying to tell a lie would give you an ulcer._

"Fire away," Sarah replied, wondering what Chuck was thinking. She was an excellent judge of character, but she never seemed to guess how Chuck would respond. It was equal parts frustrating and refreshing.

"Ellie set me up on a couple of dates with nurses or doctors over at Westside. But even as medical professionals, the women would eat a couple of slices of carrot and some celery-dressing on the side of course, and call it a meal. Always made me feel like a pig to have a plate full of food. So I would stop eating, then be starving and miserable for the rest of the evening. Come to think of it, that might explain the lack of second dates," Chuck said with a wry grin.

"It's nice to be able to enjoy an actual meal with a beaut- uh, with, uh, you that is." Chuck was flushed bright red by the end, quickly looking down to push some of the food around his plate without eating.

Sarah didn't try to fight off the huge smile at his adorable behavior. "Are you trying to say that I'm beautiful Chuck?"

Chuck looked up at her, still blushing furiously. "Have you seen you? I mean, it would be pretty impressive if you were able to get all done up like that," he said while waving his hand in her general direction, "without a mirror. But then again, from what I've learned about you, impressive is pretty much your default setting."

Sarah felt a genuine blush at his response. With marks that she had gone up against in her CIA career, a strong, confident woman would be seen as a threat to their masculinity. With Chuck, he seemed to appreciate, encourage even, her confident nature. _Definitely something that I could get used to_, she thought as she watched her brunch companion tuck into his food with gusto.

"Earlier you mentioned that you quit the CIA," Chuck said conversationally, while thinking to himself that it was sentence that he never imagined he would ever say in a conversation. "What does a former deep cover secret agent do when she retires at age…um, at any age?"

"Nice save, Chuck," Sarah said with a grin. His reaction to overhearing the war stories from the SEAL and witnessing her reaction gave her confidence that Chuck was built of sterner stuff than was noticeable on a first impression-before realizing that her first impression was of him launching himself off of a pier 25 feet in the air in order to save a small child that he didn't know. _Definitely made of stern stuff, just hidden behind a mop of curls and a knee-buckling smile._

"The truth is that I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself. I have no interest in going back into dad's line of work. And unless you are in one of the alphabet soup agencies, law enforcement tends to frown on people using most of my other skills. Right now, I'm just going to spend some time with my mom and Molly." _And see whether I'm capable of acting like a normal human being. It's been 23 years since I've behaved in a 'normal' manner. I just hope that it's not too late_.

"So," Sarah stated, scrambling for an idea for a conversation that doesn't involve her inflicting grievous bodily injury on a certain Navy SEAL or her lack of marketable skills in the job force, "it seems that Molly has some residual anxiety from her fall. She had been taking swimming lessons but now refuses to go near the pool unless 'Mr. Chuck' is there."

"I'd be happy to help out. When and where?" Sarah felt a warmth spread thru her stomach at how quickly Chuck had agreed to help Molly. Not a thought of seeing if the lessons conflicted with his schedule or thinking that being the safety blanket for a four year old was a waste of his time.

"Thursday, 6pm. The YMCA in North Hollywood."

"Tell Molly that I promise to be there."

The food and ambiance at the Crown Room had lived up to its reputation. However, as they walked out, Sarah could say with confidence that her happiness was more due to her companion than the location. They could have gone to a greasy spoon diner, and she was sure that she would have enjoyed the meal. Still, all in all, it had made for a thoroughly enjoyable first date.

"Thank you, Chuck," she said as they made their way down the sand to the shoreline for their trek back up the beach to her car. "That was really great."

"Not sure why you are thanking me," Chuck responded, his nose crinkling smile locked in place. "You picked the restaurant and drove us here. Not to mention threatening me with bodily harm if I didn't let you go dutch on the bill."

"Oh," Sarah called out in a scandalized tone. "I so did not threaten you!" Her eyes were shining over how much fun she had had that morning. "Earlier I may have threatened that knucklehead with the SEALs who nearly ruined everything."

"Wait, wait. What, uh… don't go to the dark depressing place. Think of how happy you were walking up the beach on the way here. A place where you were laughing and enjoying yourself."

"You mean the place where I was deliberately walking so close to you that the backs of our hands kept rubbing against each other but you never took my hand?"

"I wanted to. I soooo wanted to. I still do want to, but I was sure I was reading things that weren't really there," Chuck admitted as he once again turned a brighter shade of pink.

"I like you Chuck. A lot"

Chuck promptly tripped over the flat, smooth hard-packed sand.

Chuck was still dusting the sand off of his jeans and hoodie when his phone rang in his pocket.

"Hey El, what's up?"

"The crisis at the ER is no longer a crisis, so I got to come home. Only you're not here. Is everything ok?" Ellie's concern was clear through the call. Sarah felt a little guilty over eavesdropping. But not guilty enough to stop.

At that moment, a kamikaze sea gull dive bombed Chuck's head while squawking away like crazy, causing Chuck to yelp in surprise.

"Oh no. Are you at the beach Chuck? What happened? Did the talk with Sarah not go well? She seems really great. Did you get too nerdy and scare her off? Or did the bearded gnome show up and ruin everything? It was Morgan, wasn't it? I'm going to kill that man-child."

Chuck let out a small laugh, "Thanks for assuming it was me or Morgan to ruin things, sis. Super helpful. I'm, uh, I'm…at A beach. But I'm not at THE beach. Sarah and I went out to grab a bite to eat."

There was silence for a moment. "We have lots of food in the apartment."

Chuck swallowed, aware how close Sarah was. "Yeah. Yeah we do. But, um, I kind of suggested stepping out to grab a bite…"

"Like on a date?!" Ellie jumped in eagerly.

"Well, uh, I hadn't really thought of it that way at the time. But, yeah, it's kind of looking like that now—oof."

"Chuck, are you ok? What happened?"

Chuck rubbed his shoulder with a greater appreciation for the hidden strength of Sarah Walker. "Apparently Sarah didn't appreciate my downplaying the situation. Especially after she has already called it a date." Chuck then held the phone at arms length to prevent hearing loss.

"Easy there El. Dogs across Burbank just went deaf because of you."

"Charles Irving you are, technically speaking, an adult. And you are on a date with a big girl. Don't screw this up. "

"Thanks for the pep talk, sis."

Before he could end the call, Sarah snatched the phone from his hand, "Hi Ellie. Sorry for kidnapping your brother. Just so you know, when we got in my car I considered this to be a date, but after spending more time with your brother I've decided that we are dating. Exclusively."

Chuck once again performed the Picard face palm as he could hear the squeal followed by cheering. From their history, Chuck knew that Ellie was now doing her celebration dance. Sarah looked at the phone in her hand with an awkward grin, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your sister approves?" Sarah handed back his phone, making no effort to hide the huge grin on her face. The fact that Chuck's sister so blatantly approved of their dating was surprisingly important to Sarah.

"So, Chuck, where did you kids go for your big date?" Ellie demanded good-naturedly.

"Sarah took us to the Crown Room," Chuck reluctantly admitted.

"The Crown Room? Is that a new place?" Ellie asked. "I haven't been there. Is it nice?"

"Yeah, El. The place is great. Right on the water, great food," Chuck said before pausing. Another round of squealing was about to ensue. "It's in the Hotel Coronado. In San Diego."

His prediction came true.

"Oh my gosh," Ellie cried, "I do know that place. Devon has been talking about going there for a romantic weekend getaway. I can't believe that you beat me to it!"

"You are killing me here, El," Chuck mumbled.

"What was it like? I want to hear all about how it looks, the food, everything. Devon is going to be so jealous of you."

"What it looks like?" Chuck swallowed hard. Sarah looked confused for a moment, watching as his eyes darted from side to side. "Well, it was a big hotel. Old. You know."

Sarah shot a hand over her mouth to smother the laughter at Chuck's predicament.

Ellie was silent for a moment. "Is that the best you can do? Stanford degree with high honors, and the best description of one of the most romantic spots in the state is 'big' and 'old'?"

"I was a little distracted. Okay?" Chuck said in exasperation, before remembering that Sarah could hear all of the conversation. "Oh crap."

Sarah decided to put an end to his misery, grabbing the phone out of his hand once more. "Hi Ellie. Me again. I'll just have to take him out to lunch, as he apparently has forgotten all about our brunch date already. You and I can catch up later to go over all of the details."

Chuck plopped down butt first in the sand. "Neither of you is going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Nope," Sarah sang out while reaching down to haul him to his feet again. She laughed out loud at his attempt at a morose expression, feeling lighter and happier than she could ever remember.

Their return trip up the beach was completed hand in hand the whole way.

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A/N 2: So much for the will they/won't they. First date is in the books, and they've known each other less than 24 hours.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER Five Nerd HQ Games

A/N: I swore to myself that I was going to be very productive with work today…and made it halfway through the morning before deciding to update the story. I am going to shoot for the twice weekly postings. Some of the upcoming chapters have some pretty serious revision going on, and the holidays will soon be on us, so I can't make guarantees.

Without further ado, Chapter 5 where we get some more backstory that develops the story arc.

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Despite the fact that their brunch had been dramatic and eventful rather than the intended relaxed and romantic, Sarah was…content, happy even. The source of a lot of that happiness was the man walking beside her, this time with his fingers threaded through her own. Sarah realized that Ellie Bartowski had also played a significant role in Sarah's happiness. Chuck clearly, and rightfully so, placed a lot of stock in his sister's opinion.

Ellie was an incredible combination of kindness and caring, mixed well with intelligence and accomplishment. Yet from the moment that Ellie had invited Sarah into the apartment through the post-brunch dating announcement, Ellie had been welcoming and accepting of Sarah.

Sarah saw the potential for developing a close friend in Ellie, which was something new and slightly intimidating for the newly retired spy. But in order to get that close friendship, Sarah would need to come clean with Ellie about her past, both as a CIA agent and as a underage con artist. While a part of Sarah feared rejection-both as a potential close friend and as the sister/surrogate mother to Chuck-she also knew full well that Ellie was cut from the same cloth as Chuck. They valued honesty and integrity, and as long as Sarah was working at being a good person and a good girlfriend to Chuck (she was rather keen on that particular title) she was confident that she would have Ellie's support.

For now though, Sarah just wanted to spend some more time getting to know Chuck-_my boyfriend_. She had memorized most of the biographical details (_it was good planning, not creepy stalking_) and she took stock of the details of his life that she had gleaned so far. But Chuck had been walking this Earth for 27 years. That meant that there were countless memories and tidbits to discover about him. And she wanted to get to know him, really know him. She didn't have much in the way of real life dating experience, but what she and Chuck shared seemed special to her. Something rare. Something to be cherished.

Trying not to dwell on how special their new relationship was, or how much more special it could grow to become, Sarah decided to learn some more details about the guy who had (literally) launched himself into her life. "So, tell me about Nerd HQ Games. Was that a childhood dream, something that came to you at Stanford? How did it come about?"

Sarah cringed a bit at the end, thinking that the question came across as overly nosey. But she was genuinely curious about what he did for a living and why. As it was Chuck, she would have wanted to know regardless. But seeing as how she had just retired at 27, she also was hoping for some insight into what she could do for a living. Maybe finding out from Chuck how he had decided on a career would give her some clarity on how she could figure out what to do next. It wasn't as though she had any interest in entering the America's Cup.

_Ooh, sailing. The next time that I bring Chuck here we need to charter a sailboat for a joint whale watching/sunset cruise. Romantic and less likely to be interrupted by someone from my past. Although, with my luck a special ops sub would surface next to us with Zondra on board_.

Chuck had a grin on his face and unconsciously began swinging their hands back and forth. Clearly this was a topic that excited him. "Since we were kids, Morgan and I had loved comic books and videogames. Most of the money that I got from lifeguarding in high school got funneled into either one or the other. We always talked about how each videogame could be improved, or what kind of game we would make if we ran a company."

"When I got to college, I had another friend who was really into gaming as well. Freshman and sophomore years he was pushing for the two of us to start our own company after graduation. I hadn't had any real plans on entering college, assuming that I would just get an entry level spot at a software or hardware development company. But we started taking classes that would position us to be able to run our own shop."

"When we got into our junior and senior years, he kind of distanced himself from the planning. He would still play games with or against me, and had some great ideas for games, but gradually stopped talking about our company. As graduation got closer, he said that he had a job lined up back home in Connecticut as an accountant-which was weird as he was an engineering major like me and never took an accounting class."

"Anyway, after graduation, Bryce dropped off of the face of the Earth, and I realized that I didn't have the resources to make a go of it on my own, so I got a job at Roark Instruments. Ya know, it always felt a bit sketchy there. Ted Rourke came across as way too happy, which usually means the person is faking it. And if someone is faking happiness, the reason just can't be a good one. Fast forward two years, I had saved up most of the money I'd made and I quit Rourke to start up Nerd HQ."

"Officially, it's just me. But Morgan-who you kind of met last night too-actually plays a role by playing. He is the best beta tester out there. He has no clue how to code, but he's like a walking encyclopedia of videogames and has great ideas for possible games. Once the company becomes viable, the plan is for him to come on board to oversee creative development."

"By the time I opened up shop, we had a bunch of game ideas, and even some rough coding for a couple. What we didn't have was income, so Morgan has stayed on at the Buy More until we're profitable. We took the middle of the pack game ideas, I put together some graphics and pitched them to a couple of software giants. One of them bought the rights and worked up the full graphics, sound, etc., for one of the games, threw in some marketing and made a bundle of money."

"I took that money, funneled it into another game, and sold the rights to the second game for even more money. Between the revenue from those two games, we've got enough to try to market a game for ourselves under the Nerd HQ label. The plan is for Morgan to hand in his two week notice to Big Mike at BuyMore if the launch is successful. It isn't easy to break into the industry, but we've got a couple of special games that we've held back that could really catch on. A little luck, a lot of hard work and planning, and even more perseverance, and we can make a name for ourselves."

Sarah gaped at Chuck. He had his dream and with skill and hard work had crafted a path to achieve that dream. It was both impressive and more than a little sexy. He knew what he wanted, and he was making that happen. Sarah envied him that, working at his dream job. She hardly thought of her work at the CIA as being a dream job, but it was all she knew. She was also, admittedly, a little jealous of Morgan. After all, he was soon to be working at something he loved, with the added bonus of working alongside Chuck.

Sarah needed to figure out what she was going to do for a job eventually. She knew the old saying, do what you do best. But what she was best at was pretending to be someone else, or eliminating threats. Plus she doubted that there were many positions at a Fortune 500 company that required knowing over 200 ways to kill a person. Besides, she was tired of cons, either legal or illegal, and on unleashing violence on people (even when they were scumbags who deserved far, far worse).

She thought back to the mission preparation where she received a cram course on international banking taught by professors from the Harvard School of Business. She couldn't put it on her resume, as Sarah Walker was never enrolled at HBS. But then again, most of what she had done at the Agency wouldn't be fit for putting on a resume. However, she had taken the courses, and impressed several of the professors.

That mission had involved going undercover at a large international German bank suspected of accepting clients who were subjects of international sanctions. She had been good at her cover job, even if the 9 to 5 grind hadn't been very appealing. Her skills at languages had been crucial to that mission. She loved languages, studying them, mastering them. But working as a translator, sitting on the sidelines while others actually got in the game, that didn't sound very appealing.

Sarah and Chuck had just gotten back to her car when Sarah's phone chimed with a text from her mom. Sarah frowned as she read it, causing Chuck to instantly become concerned. "What's wrong? Is it Molly? Is she ok?"

Sarah turned and gave Chuck a reassuring smile. She had trouble putting into words how much it meant to her that Chuck was so protective of Molly. "Molly's fine, Chuck. My mom was just texting me about a meeting that she had with a counselor at Molly's school. The counselor is suggesting that Molly be instructed by a speech pathologist. She has a little trouble pronouncing a few words, and the counselor is worried that if the issue isn't addressed early, it will snowball later in her life. It's easier to fix the issue now, rather than deal with a fully fledged impediment in the future."

Chuck still looked highly concerned, "But what does she need? What is it that the speech pathologist does that fixes the problem before it gets ingrained?"

Sarah turned to hand her phone to Chuck, clicking on a link that her mom had forwarded from the school. "It looks as though the speech pathologist works with each child to help the child pronounce the words correctly. Using the proper mouth shape is essential, as is tongue placement inside the mouth. After that, it's just practice, practice, practice. This appears to be the area of greatest difficulty. Kids Molly's age can learn new skills quickly, but if they don't make it a routine, the skill gets lost and the child regresses. And if there is regression, it makes relearning the skill that much harder."

Chuck paused halfway to sitting down in the passenger seat, as he processed what Sarah had just told him. Sarah was curious as to what he was thinking, and he was clearly thinking hard as his eyes darted from side to side. Whatever he was seeing wasn't on the ground in front of him. But she bit her tongue and waited him out. His mind was racing a mile a minute, and he didn't need her interrupting him. Plus, God help her, she found his intelligence to be downright sexy. _Who knew that brains could be such a turn on_?

Chuck suddenly jumped back up to his feet. "That's it! While Morgan and I have focused on videogames for the start of Nerd HQ, I also really wanted to have a branch of the business that was there to do good in the world. Not just for us to crank out games that would let the players escape reality for a while. This is it!"

Sarah was thrilled that Chuck was so excited, but still wasn't clear on why he was excited. "I'm not sure that I follow, Chuck. Why is 'this it' and what does it have to do with Molly?"

"Morgan and I can come up with games that use the lessons from speech pathologists to get kids like Molly to want to learn and improve their speech. In order to get through game levels, the child would have to pronounce a word or some words correctly. We make it fun for the kids so that they don't even realize that they are learning. Points are scored, or prizes won for proper pronunciation."

"You mentioned that the biggest difficulty is getting kids to practice once they have been taught the proper technique," Chuck continued, his excitement building. "What if we make it so that they enjoy practicing, that they want to play the games just to play without even realizing that they are learning?"

Chuck started pacing around the parking lot in excitement. "Think about it. Speech impediments, dyslexia. We identify the issues holding children back in school and then work with specialists in the field of early childhood education in order to craft games that will help them overcome the barriers to learning! All of these issues have nothing to do with how bright the child is, yet they make the kids feel different or inferior. We blend education and entertainment to help these kids to achieve their full potential."

"Wait, wait, wait," Chuck called out excitedly. "Even better! What if…you do the leg work on the education side of things? Identifying what researchers have found works best for the various early childhood learning issues. Track down non-profits already working in the field to see what are the most effective methods for helping the kids. Then Morgan and I come up with game ideas where the kids have to use those methods in order to advance through the game."

"You want me to work for Nerd HQ?" Sarah thought back to having just been jealous of Morgan for getting to work with Chuck, and now she had the same chance. Plus, she would be doing something good without having to do anything that would give her nightmares in the future. "That could work. Make it fun and the kids won't mind putting practice in. We could do a lot of good."

"Well, yeah. It would be great," Chuck said with an easy smile. "Although we'd have to work on some deal for salary, considering that Nerd HQ isn't exactly profitable yet."

"Hmm," Sarah replied with a wry grin. "What kind of benefits does the job offer?"

"Well, we're just starting up. What kind of benefits are you looking for here?" Chuck

replied, sending Sarah a smoldering look that she found far more effective than he had any way of knowing.

"Well, I'll need dinner out at least once a week. Dancing twice a month," Sarah said, curling up beside Chuck and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Oh, and cuddle time at least five nights a week. That's non-negotiable."

"Wow, that's quite the benefits package," Chuck said, his grin now so wide that his nose scrunched up a little. Sarah was internally debating whether she found the look more adorable or more enticing. A win-win either way. "But, what if I get called out of town," Chuck continued. "Would Morgan have to take over these duties while I'm gone?"

Chuck withered under Sarah's glare. "Right. Not as funny as I had thought."

"Seriously, though, does a video game designer/producer have to go on a lot of trips?" Sarah asked curiously. "I'm kind of new to the whole gamer genre, so I have no idea."

"No, I was mostly kidding. In a not so funny way," Chuck said trying to smooth over his faux pas. "The biggest convention is the E3 Expo, but that's here in LA. There are lots of ComicCons around the country-like we talked about the granddaddy of them all is down in San Diego. Nerd HQ wouldn't get a ComicCon panel or anything, but I might need to go to some to promote the games."

"Well, Mr. Bartowski, I'll take the job. I'll need an advance on my salary. I'm thinking dinner, tomorrow night. Your choice on the restaurant."

Chuck had been grinning so hard, and for so long, that his cheeks were beginning to hurt. "Very well, Ms. Walker. You are hired. We'll call Morgan on the way back to let him know- he likes to think that he has to approve all major decisions. And we can celebrate with dinner tomorrow night."

"Well, if tomorrow night is the celebration dinner, then I'm going to need another dinner for my advance. It's only fair," Sarah said beaming back at him.

Chuck was still laughing as he steered them back towards her car. An idea came to him. It could be good. Or it could be really, really bad. "What about tonight? Ellie and I were going to do a dinner out, just the two of us. You could come with?"

The dinner invitation caught Sarah by surprise. She had just been thinking that, even though she had spent the whole day with Chuck, she really didn't want their time together to end today.

"I don't want to get on Ellie's bad side," Sarah tentatively replied, inadvertently showing how much she already valued their relationship. The admission pleased Chuck inordinately, and gave him greater confidence.

"Trust me," Chuck said with a huge smile, "you don't have to worry about that. After that whole 'dating exclusively' bit, you are Ellie's favorite person right now. More than Awesome even." He pulled his phone back out to get his sister on the line again.

"Hey baby brother, you and Sarah decide to get a room at the hotel instead of heading back to LA?" As Chuck had anticipated, Ellie was still in high spirits from their earlier conversation.

"Ha, quite the comedian, sis. Actually, the call does concern Sarah," Chuck paused to take a breath, realizing how much he wanted this dinner to go forward even though he was sure of how Ellie would respond. "How would you feel about Sarah joining us at Cantina for our dinner tonight? And before you answer, you should know that this was my idea- and Sarah is concerned about interfering with you and me spending time together."

"Put your girlfriend on the phone," Ellie demanded. Chuck wasn't sure who took greater pleasure in her labeling Sarah as Chuck's girlfriend, Chuck in hearing it or Ellie in saying it. It was a pretty close call. Doing as his sister bid, Chuck handed the phone over to Sarah.

"You are joining us for dinner," Ellie declared. "End of discussion. I told you this morning that you and I are going to have so much fun together, and I meant it. I may not have realized just how soon we would be having fun together again, but it would mean a lot to me if you can join us."

Sarah felt the pull to say yes to dinner. For one thing, she was enjoying her time with Chuck too much to willingly put an end to it. For another, she thought it would be a great chance to see if her instincts were right about the potential for a close friendship with Ellie. She really wanted that, and not just because Ellie was Chuck's sister and surrogate mom. If an incredible woman like Ellie was interested in being friends with Sarah, that was surely a sign that she hadn't been too damaged by her wayward childhood and CIA career to be capable of normalcy in her life. Additionally, further securing Ellie's stamp of approval would be important to Chuck. And if it was important to Chuck, Sarah discovered that it was also now important to her.

"I'm in," Sarah confidently stated.

"This is so great," Ellie declared. "Tell my baby brother that dinner will be at 8pm. I'll make sure that he cleans up before dinner. He needs to make a good impression on his new girlfriend."

"He already has Ellie," Sarah reassured her. "He already has."

Sarah put the top down on her Porsche as they pulled out of the beach parking at Coronado Beach to head back to Echo Park. Chuck, having regained possession of his phone from Sarah, quickly configured the phone to use the Bluetooth system in her call so that he could call Morgan. He was a little apprehensive about making the call on speakerphone, but he was sure that Morgan would be enthusiastic about Sarah joining them, and the new educational software line idea. Chuck figured that if Sarah saw that both Chuck and Morgan were solidly behind her coming to work with them, that it would make it more appealing for her.

"Morgan, you remember Sarah from the beach yesterday?"

"Uh, duh dude. You totally should have gotten some digits. She was super ho—"

Chuck promptly discovered how hard it is for a 6'3" person to try to hide in the passenger seat of a Porsche 911, "Morg! You realize that you are on speakerphone, right?"

"So? What does that matter…unless…You did get digits! You sly dog you."

"No, I didn't. Well, yes. But no, not at the time…" Chuck glanced at Sarah in the driver's seat who was staying silent, but whose grin was getting broader and broader. "Not going to help me out here are you?"

"How am I supposed to help you out? I don't even know where you are. And why are we on speaker?" Morgan continued before Sarah could even speak. Chuck pantomimed beating his head against the dashboard.

"Buddy, I'm here with Sarah," Chuck interrupted, desperate to get to the point and end the call before Morgan could embarrass Chuck any further. "Listen, she and I…well, we…uh, we were talking and she came up with a brilliant idea for Nerd HQ."

"Hi Morgan," Sarah jumped in, causing Chuck to silently mouth 'Sure now you can speak'. "Actually, Chuck should get all the credit for the idea. It's really his."

"Tomato, potato," Morgan replied, "let's hear the idea!"

"Buddy, I think the saying is tomato, tomah… You know what, totally not the point. You know how we talked about expanding Nerd HQ to do something for the community. To give back and help out others," Chuck said, almost desperate to get the conversation on topic before Morgan made any further comment about Sarah that would make her reconsider them dating, much less exclusively.

"Sure. I mean, we've got to get this game out and then come up with an idea. So what is Sarah bringing to the party."

"Games that help kids learn," Chuck responded eagerly. "Molly's got a bit of a speech issue at school, so I'm thinking that we start with speech pathology and work our way up. Something along the lines of scoring points or prizes for accurately mimicking pronunciation. Maybe later expand to work on dyslexia, and other learning barriers. And I want to bring Sarah on board to take point on this project. She learns what the kids need to be taught, then you and I work that into a game. The kids literally learn by playing."

"Yeah. Let's do this Chuck. But wait, Sarah should have a Nerd HQ title," Morgan proclaimed.

"Not Vicki Vale," Chuck said with finality.

"You guys talked about her on the beach after the Pier," Sarah reminded Chuck without ever taking her eyes off of the road ahead.

"You remember?" Chuck was a little incredulous. It had only been the day before, but she had seemed to be so focused on Molly's well being.

"Of course. Do I need to be jealous," Sarah replied while fighting back a grin. Now that she thought about it, she seemed to spend most of her time with Chuck either grinning or trying (and failing) not to grin in order to not encourage his goofiness.

"No, it's from Batman," Chuck blurted out, before realizing that it wasn't helping the cause.

Sarah let out a laugh, "And that makes it better? Why don't Morgan and I meet up when he's done with work and he can let me know his thoughts on the new direction for your company as well as possible job titles."

Chuck grins at her effort to go out of her way to include Morgan, "That work for you Morg?"

"Sounds like a plan," Morgan responded. "AssMan out."

"That right there," Chuck said to Sarah as he put away his phone, "that is why we should not leave your title up to Morgan. I love the guy, but contrary to his own beliefs, title naming is not a skillset that he has."

Sarah let out a giggle. _Since when do I giggle? Since Chuck, that's when._ As she accelerated up the ramp onto the highway, her hand reached over to lace her fingers through Chuck's hand. When she shot a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, she realized that he had a grin just as big as her own.

Chuck started playing a song through her radio. _It's a new day, and I'm feeling good_. Sarah cast a quick glance at the display. Nina Simone. _Yes it is, Nina. And yes I am_.

A/N 2: The one and only appearance of Bryce Larkin. I thought about adding a short Intersect arc (i.e. Sarah intercepts before Chuck would open the email), but decided that it would just be more of a distraction than an addition, as the point of this story is to show Chuck operating without the Intersect.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6 Meeting the Family

A/N: To summarize, Chuck and Sarah have now known each other for around 24 hours and are not only dating exclusively, but Sarah is set to take a job with Chuck and Morgan's company. Sarah's mom makes an appearance in this chapter-a word of warning, it is as much fun to write her and Sarah as it is Ellie and Sarah. Second word of warning, this chapter is significantly longer than the earlier chapter. But to make it up to you, the next one is ridiculously short.

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After a slightly more sedate return trip to Burbank, by Sarah's standards at least, she dropped Chuck off in Echo Park. She then headed over to the Buy More Plaza, sitting in her Porsche just outside of the store. When Morgan wrapped up his shift, he headed out of the back of the store to get into his red and white Toyota Matrix.

"You know," Sarah said from the passenger seat before Morgan even realized that there was anyone in the car with him-making him tense up before looking out of the corner of his eye to see who was there, "you didn't have to make me part of your company. That is something you and Chuck have dreamed about and worked towards for years."

Morgan waived off her comment. "Molly falling from the Pier changed Chuck. Or maybe I should say that he changed back. He's always been Chuck, but after we came back from the Pier, he had that spark back that he hadn't had since he was back in college. So I owe you. Plus this educational software line is genius. I'm kicking myself for not having thought of it. Man , so many possibilities with this. Hey, cooking. We could do a module for people who want to be hibachi chefs!"

"We probably don't want to encourage people to build their own hibachi grills at home," Sarah responded, unsure of whether or not Morgan was joking about the idea.

Morgan stroked his beard as he nodded, "True, true. I think my mom is still angry at me for that one- which totally isn't fair. The fire department put out the flames before too much stuff got burned. No harm no foul, I always say. Or mostly no harm."

"I'm glad that you are ok with the idea of me working for you and Chuck. This means a lot to me." She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek before reaching for the door handle.

"Whoa, careful there Sarah," Morgan said seriously. "Watch out for the Beard. It has certain power over women. And not only are you Chuck's girl, I'm kind of spoken for."

Sarah was confused for a moment, before understanding dawned, "Ellie? You know that she and Awesome are the real deal. Those two are like a Hallmark movie brought to life."

"Hey, you watch those movies too?" Morgan bounced up and down in the driver's seat.

"Uh, no," she honestly replied.

She could see Morgan deflate a little, making her wish that she had told him a little white lie. "Pfffffbt. Me neither. Heh," Morgan nervously said. "I should probably just, yeah. See ya later Sarah."

Morgan started up the car, and, with a quick wave to hide his embarrassment, he threw the car into reverse and headed off. Sarah shook her head and gently laughed. _Well, my new work is certainly going to be different from my career at the CIA_. She was really glad for Chuck that he had such a loyal friend in Morgan. That being said, she totally got why Ellie took the attitude that she did. Sarah was certainly relieved that Morgan's affections went to Ellie rather than her.

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After leaving the Buy More, Sarah raced back to her mother's house to get ready for dinner that night. Even though her surprise meeting with Ellie had gone smoothly, Sarah was nervous about this dinner. _After I pulled my foot out of my mouth, the morning went smoothly. Ellie is a huge part of Chuck's life. I need for this dinner to go well. Relax. You got along great in person, and she was beside herself, almost literally, with happiness when you told her that you and her brother were dating exclusively_.

Sarah was so caught up in her own head, she walked straight past her mother to go upstairs to her old room to look for clothes. She had her head buried in the closet, throwing one outfit after another over her shoulder and into a pile on the floor. "Too fancy. Too formal. Too casual. Too too. Too…why the hell did I ever think that this would make for a good look? I should burn this."

Meanwhile, Emma was leaning her shoulder against the door jamb to her daughter's old room watching as Sarah grew more and more frantic. "I'm going to guess that this…whatever this is, doesn't have anything to do with Molly and the speech pathologist. Care to tell your mom what has you in such a tizzy? Come to think of it, I don't ever think that I've seen you in anything resembling a tizzy before."

Emma wasn't sure if she should laugh at her daughter's uncharacteristic behavior, or comfort her instead. Sarah turned around stunned, completely unaware that her mother had even approached. _Good thing that you are out of the spy game_, Sarah decided. Much to Sarah's chagrin, Emma opted for laughter once she saw Sarah's expression.

"Care to share," Emma finally asked. "What has you so worked up? Speaking of which, what have you been up to all day?"

Sarah paused. _How to answer that? I contacted an NSA agent to request a misapplication of government resources? I dragged Molly's hero to brunch in another county? Confronted a special warfare specialist who was spilling the details on a past mission of mine? Or, I suddenly have a boyfriend_? "Uh…"

"Wow," Emma said with a laugh. "Didn't realize that would be such a hard question. How about this one: what are you trying to pick out an outfit for?"

"Uh…" Sarah repeated. Her shoulders slumped in resignation. "I had a guy at the NSA track down the name and address of the guy who jumped off of the Pier to save Molly. Then I went to his place, where I met his older sister, only she's more like a mom. Then he and I went off to San Diego for brunch, and I took him to lunch. Then he offered me a job-which is focused on helping Molly. And then he invited me to dinner only he already had a dinner planned with his sister, so now I'm having dinner with him and his sister. Oh, and he and I are dating. Exclusively."

"Wow," Emma responded a bit stunned at the torrent of information that Sarah had unleashed. "Wait, if you went to brunch, lunch and now are going to dinner, does that make it one date as it is the same day, or is it your third date? Do I need to give you the birds and the bees speech?"

"Uh…."

Emma started laughing so hard, tears came to her eyes. "Oh, sweetie. It's actually refreshing to see my always composed and in charge daughter at her wits end. Blue blouse, small white buttons. And your khaki skirt. Can't miss." Emma kept laughing as she walked down the hall. Just as she started down the stairs, Emma called back, "And I think it's about time that I met this Chuck. After all, at this rate you two could be married by the weekend!"

"Uh…"

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Quaint. Comfortable. Those seemed to be the words that best described the Mexican restaurant that Chuck and Ellie had picked for their brother/sister dinner that Sarah was currently crashing. _Can it be considered crashing when Ellie had point blank ordered me to come?_ Given her ability to recall a tremendous amount of detail thanks to her career as a CIA agent, Sarah wasn't surprised when Ellie proved to be just as formidable, yet friendly, as Sarah had remembered.

The live mariachi band seemed to fit in perfectly with the ambiance, the delicious smells and the deep, comfortable booths, one of which held the three of them. Chuck sat on one end, with Ellie across from him on the other end, leaving Sarah at the back of the circular booth. Normally, she would never accept such a position-no means for a quick escape should the situation call for it.

But she was out to dinner with her boyfriend and her new friend, who just happened to be said boyfriend's sister. Sarah had less than zero desire to escape from the booth. Especially as Chuck was regaling her with stories about Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb. "Wait until you meet him", Chuck was saying. Sarah flushed with happiness over the certainty that she would, in fact, be meeting this man whose feats where taking on near mythical status with Chuck's retelling. A retelling frequently interrupted by Ellie, along with her constant pleas for Chuck to call the man Devon.

Although mojitos were traditionally a Caribbean drink, rather than Mexican in origin, Ellie had assured Sarah that the restaurant was renown for them. Both ladies had enjoyed a few of these cocktails over the course of the meal, adding to the festive atmosphere. But as smoothly as the rum drinks had gone down, as tasty as the food had been, Sarah's favorite part of the meal came after they exited the restaurant, with Sarah catching an uber to her place, while Chuck was set to drive a slightly tipsy Ellie back to their apartment. Ellie had pulled Sarah into a bone crushing hug, "I told you this morning that we were going to have so much fun together, you and I. I didn't realize that it would be so soon, but I'm really happy that it was. Next time, we will leave this big ol' dork behind and have a girls' night."

As the uber ride had pulled up, Chuck had leaned over and brushed a kiss against her cheek. Sarah looked at him curiously, causing Chuck to admit that he wasn't really comfortable with PDA. Ellie had smacked him on the arm for the comment. Sarah had just popped up an eyebrow before grabbing a fist full of the front of Chuck's button down shirt before planting a toe-curling kiss on her boyfriend-forgetting momentarily that said boyfriend's sister was right beside them. Ellie started vibrating in place as a squeal slipped out that nearly gave the uber driver a heart attack. Sarah laughed as she gave Ellie a quick hug, before climbing into the car to stop her from stealing another kiss from Chuck. _His kisses are addictive, and any more of them might have led to more than just affection in public. I guess Mom was right to warn me about the three date rule before I headed out to dinner._

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A few nights later, Sarah stopped Chuck as he was about to start a movie that he insisted that she needed to know in order to survive- his words. Given the title 'Better off Dead', and considering her past line of work, she was more than a bit apprehensive about the movie. She was also apprehensive about what she was going to suggest.

"Before we start the movie, I need to ask you something," Sarah said in a surprisingly shy voice.

Chuck was curious as to why she would be shy, but also had already acknowledged to himself that he would agree to pretty much anything that Sarah wanted to do. Seeing her happy and laughing was more rewarding than anything he could have imagined.

"Seeing as how we are 'dating exclusively'," Sarah began as she fidgeted a bit on the sofa, "I was thinking that I should probably set up a dinner with us, Molly and my mom I mean."

Chuck's blossoming grin at the words "dinner with us, Molly" froze in place when Sarah mentioned her mom. "Time to meet the family, huh?" Chuck said, struggling not to panic at the idea.

Sarah immediately reached over to grab his hand. Having her mom meet Chuck was important, but Sarah didn't want Chuck to worry about it. She had zero doubts that her mom would see that Chuck was great, just like Sarah and Molly already knew. But when she grabbed his hand, Sarah had to will herself not to recoil.

"Your hand is a little sweaty," she noted, drastically understating the reality of the situation.

"Yeah, it does that when I'm freaking out," Chuck bashfully admitted.

Sarah fell for him a little more with the admission. First, it showed that he saw the family dinner as an important event. Second, it reinforced that Chuck wasn't so proud as to be uncomfortable telling her how he really felt. He was so open, with no sense of bravado. So many men could learn from him, including pretty much every guy at the CIA. "I'd tell you that there's no need to freak out," she said while laughing lightly, "but I doubt that it would help. But seriously, there isn't. I happen to think that you are pretty great. And Molly is convinced that you are some superhero in disguise. That alone would make my mom thrilled. But she will like you just as much as the rest of us."

"Besides," Sarah continued. "I had to meet Ellie before we even started dating, much less dating exclusively."

"Ok," Chuck drawled. "Hold up. The time between us dating and us 'dating exclusively' started when we entered the Crown Room and ended before we paid for brunch. Also, it's hardly a fair comparison, between your mom and Ellie. You and Ellie were thick as thieves by the time I came out of…uh, I came into the kitchen."

"Were you going to say when you came out of the shower? Trying to distract me by making me remember the sight of you wearing nothing but a towel? Trust me, I remember every detail," Sarah said as she seductively ran her hand up his arm.

"If you are trying to distract me from freaking out about meeting your mother, you should know that it's not working."

Sarah shifted so that she was seated in his lap, instead of beside him on the sofa. She peppered his neck with light kisses, "You sure it's not working."

"Fine! It's totally working. So not fair that I'm powerless to your feminine wiles," Chuck said, although his grin belied the comment.

"Excellent. Tomorrow night at 7pm. I'll text you the address. Casual dress. We're not going anywhere fancy with a four year old in tow."

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As they approached the red door to the cozy cottage-like house, Sarah reached for Chuck's hand, realizing that it was as much to calm herself as it was to calm Chuck who was clearly getting more agitated the closer he got to her mother. Right as she was about to grab his hand, Chuck yanked his hand away. Despite all of her years and years of training, Sarah was so surprised by the rejection that she couldn't stop the flinch, or the stunned look on her face.

Chuck, to his credit, quickly realized the gravity of the mistake that he had made, "No, no, no. I'm not avoiding you or rejecting you, or whatever. It's just that my palms are more than a little sweaty. And man oh man, am I freaking out!"

Recognizing that Chuck needed her to be strong, although she was still a little hurt by the completely unexpected rejection, Sarah looked to do what she could to calm down her boyfriend. "What do you have to be nervous about?" Sarah asked, a little incredulity slipping into her tone despite her best efforts at self-control. "We've gone over this. I mean, you literally save the life of one of her daughters, and are well on your way to figuratively saving the life of her other daughter. She's going to think that you walk on water, instead of diving into it."

"Well of course I have walked on water," Chuck said as if it were the most normal thing ever. Sarah popped up one eyebrow in response. "When I was a kid, a friend had his birthday party at an ice rink. I sometimes have trouble not tripping over my own feet on dry land, so most of my time on the ice was more walking than skating per se. And since ice is nothing more than frozen water, you can say that I have walked on water."

"Oh my god, sometimes I have difficulty believing what a huge nerd you are," Sarah said with good natured exasperation. She had already moved on past the perceived rejection, which had actually been (of course) Chuck trying to be extra considerate to her.

Chuck circled the conversation back to the start, "What do I have to be nervous about? This is Emma Walker we are talking about. Mama W if you will. I HAVE to make a good impression. No other impression has ever been this important. And lets face it, nerds are not known for their great first impressions."

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Chuck watched as Emma made her way into the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks. He leaned into Sarah once her mom was out of earshot, "Man, you seriously won the gene pool lottery when it comes to your mom. That is one attractive lady. "

Sarah turned to face Chuck as her eyebrows inched higher and higher (it was a practiced move, but Chuck didn't need to know that). "Do I need to be jealous of my mother, Chuck? Is she now the competition?"

Chuck winced as he thought about what he had just said. _Really stuck your foot in it there Bartowski_. He was pretty sure that Sarah was just busting his chops. He had intended to compliment her mom, and failed spectacularly. "No, no, I didn't mean…"

"Oh, so you don't think that my mother is nice looking? Is that it?"

"No…yes…I mean…you are just messing with me right now, aren't you? And I'm totally falling for it, aren't I?"

Sarah finally broke character, letting out a peal of laughter at Chuck's expense, her eyes lighting up as a broad grin stretched across her face. Emma had re-entered the room right in time to hear her daughter let out an uninhibited laugh. She paused at the threshold to the room, with a soft smile she watched her daughter laughing, happy and at ease. Emma struggled to remember the last time her daughter had been so comfortable and relaxed. She knew very little about Chuck so far, but her mind was already made up. _He's a keeper. Saved Molly's life, and has now gotten my other little girl to act like a real girl for the first time in forever_. "Care to let me in on the joke?"

Emma smiled as both Sarah and Chuck instantly straightened up, looking like two kids who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. "Chuck was just saying how pretty you are Mom," Sarah said as she unceremoniously threw Chuck under the bus. Chuck gave Emma a weak grin before turning to Sarah with a clear What The Hell? look on his face.

Rounding on her daughter, Emma got a stern look on her face as she arched a single eyebrow. _So that's where Sarah learned that trick!_ Chuck loved learning little tidbits about Sarah wherever and whenever he could. "And you find the idea of me being pretty is laugh out loud funny, do you?" Emma demanded in an ice cold tone.

Sarah now bore a striking resemblance to a deer in headlights. It was now Chuck's turn to laugh as he watched the awesomely formidable woman next to him get schooled at her own game.

Emma extended a wine glass towards Sarah, "I'm just teasing you sweetheart." She patted Sarah's cheek as she walked by. "By the way, after all of the excitement from yesterday, Molly is already fast asleep. I'm dreading the morning when she wakes up to realize that she missed dinner with her new favorite person." Emma then beamed at Sarah, "He's awfully cute. I'll just wait until you make a mistake and then I'll swoop in to steal Chuck away from you."

Sarah rapidly spun to march into the family room, unaware of Emma stopping to watch with a mischievous smile. Emma leaned into Chuck, "My daughter tends to be a little hard headed. Sometimes she needs a little nudge. Best leave that part to me for now."

"I just won't let anything happen to me and Chuck," Sarah fumed to herself. "That way I'll never, ever lose him." Sarah proceeded to stumble, the wine sloshing around her glass, as the implications of her statement struck home.

"We'll just give Sarah a moment to collect herself," Emma declared. Chuck nodded in agreement, although he desperately wished that Sarah was there to keep him company. Emma noticed Chuck's awkwardness, and guessed that her earlier teasing of Sarah had confused the young man. "Relax, I was just teasing Sarah. I'm not one to try to steal her boyfriends away."

Chuck smiled at her, but continued to fidget. "You seem a little uncertain there, Chuck," Emma continued, looking at him closely. "Let me as you something, why did you save Molly?"

Chuck went from looking uncertain to looking thoroughly lost, "What do you mean 'why did I save Molly'?"

Emma pressed forward, undaunted, "Did you see a little girl fall and say to yourself 'This is my chance to be a hero?'" She already knew the answer to this, and suspected that it had never occurred to Chuck to ask himself these questions.

"What? No," Chuck sputtered, horrified to think that anyone would take such a callous attitude when a child's safety was at risk. "I didn't think. I'd seen this cute little girl running around but didn't think more than how it was so great to be four years old. Back at that age everything was an adventure. But then she got close to the edge of the pier, unaware of the possible danger. And I got scared that something was going to happen. Then it did."

Chuck couldn't help but to think back to that terrifying moment when he watched Molly topple over the side of the pier, seeing the fear in her eyes, the desperation at her tiny hands grasping for anything, but coming up empty.

"I saw a little kid falling," Chuck said, his tone hollow as the emotions of that moment once again overwhelmed him. "I can still see the look in her eyes as she went over- not understanding what was happening. I didn't think. I just had to try to help her."

"But Chuck, it is ok that I call you Chuck isn't it? Charles sounds far too formal for you. Chuck suits you much better," Emma proclaimed with a kind smile. After Chuck jerkily nodded his assent, she continued, "you didn't just try to help her. You saved her. Sarah has enough real world experience-which I try my level best to never think about- to have saved Molly herself. But you were there first. And by Sarah's account, you performed a textbook rescue. You were willing to risk your own safety to rescue a total stranger. The fact that you didn't have to think about it proves what a fundamentally good person you are."

"I don't know much about Sarah's dating history," Emma confessed, now holding Chuck's rapt attention as they headed through to the living room. "She didn't date in high school, and from the little I could get out of her from when she was at the CIA most guys went beyond confident to cocky. That doesn't work for her. For her, you have to be able to back up the confidence with capability."

"You have all of the capabilities but not the confidence. Yet, if you don't believe that you are good enough for my daughter, why would she believe it?" Emma focused on Chuck, willing him to understand the lesson that she was trying to impart. "Fortunately for you, Sarah already believes it."

"You are a good man, Chuck Bartowski. You are not just good enough, you are great for my daughter. She believes in you. In spades. And I believe in you as well. You just need to believe in yourself."

"Now, enough lectures, let's relax and have fun. And maybe tease Sarah a little more," Emma proclaimed.

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Despite protests from both Sarah and Emma, shortly after dinner Chuck was elbow deep in soap suds as he cleaned up. He had insisted that since Emma had prepared the meal, he should be the one to handle clean up. After considerable efforts by both women to get Chuck to change his mind, Emma had eventually led Sarah into the living room to leave Chuck to it.

After sitting down on the sofa and refilling their glasses of wine, Emma gave Sarah an appraising look. "He is a great guy. I'm really happy for you. But, you need to be careful."

"Careful? Mom, Chuck won't hurt me," Sarah scoffs, knowing without a doubt that Chuck was far too good for that.

"No, not intentionally. But even people with the best of intentions can make mistakes." Emma paused for a moment to let that sink in. She reached over and took both of Sarah's hands, "And given how important he is to you already, any mistake could hurt more than you realize."

"But you need to be careful for him more than of him," Emma cautioned. The carefree mom laughing at all of her boyfriend's nerdy jokes was gone. Emma was earnest in her warning. It was clear to her that both her daughter and Chuck were already in over their heads, and that neither was particularly experienced at this facet of life.

Sarah set down her wineglass on the coffee table as she turned to her mother, "I'm not sure that I understand." _At least she's taking this seriously_, Emma thought.

"He is crazy about you. He'd be a fool not to be," Emma said, both honestly and as a proud mother. "Let me ask you this: when you first met on the beach, how long was it before he checked you out? You, my dear, are a beautiful woman. How long did it take him to notice?" She raised a single eyebrow as she waited for Sarah's answer, willing her daughter to understand the life lesson that she was trying to impart.

"Mom," Sarah replied, slightly exasperated at the question when she had hoped for a pearl of wisdom directly, instead of this guessing game. "He was in the middle of rescuing Molly. You can't expect him to stop a rescue to hit on me."

Emma smiled at the response. Surely in Sarah's experiences as a CIA agent, she had come across many a man who would have done just that. It was encouraging that Sarah was able to differentiate Chuck from that crowd. "Can't I? Ok. Putting that aside for the moment, when you and he did start talking, how long did it take before he noticed anything other than your eyes?"

Sarah blushed as she remembered how stunned Chuck had looked on the beach once he finally took notice of her.

"It's ok," Emma assured Sarah. "Actually it's better than ok. Much better. Because he spent all of dinner looking at you like that. Like he still gets constantly lost in your eyes. The reason why you need to be careful for him is that he has put you up on a pedestal."

"Not on a pedestal like you are some trophy or a symbol of perfection. But because he sees you as larger than life. Frankly, while I'm much happier not thinking of the risks you faced at the CIA, he probably thinks of it as glamorous work straight out of the movies. Add in supermodel looks, and it's a package that he may feel is out of his league."

"Or he could see a 27 year old woman who was unemployed before he hired me to help run his business, and has no significant past relationships," Sarah countered, feeling somewhat defensive. She knew how many strikes there were against her based on her work with the Agency. _Chuck may be my boyfriend_, Sarah couldn't help but let out a small grin at the title, _but we've known each other for 24 hours. If he knew just what I've been called on to do, he would turn and walk-if not run-away_, she thought, giving voice to her fears. _But_, a small voice in the back of her head piped up, _he learned some of those details at the brunch, but he thought better of you for it, not worse_.

Emma wondered at the small smile that escaped her daughter, which vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a look of introspection mixed with confusion. "Do you believe, even for a moment, that is the way that Chuck sees you?"

Sarah went silent, feeling slightly guilty for giving voice to such negative thoughts on behalf of Chuck. Chuck walked back into the living room to find Emma beaming at him, but Sarah lost in thought. After repeated assurances from Chuck that the meal had been delicious, and his request that Molly be told that he was genuinely sorry not to have been able to see her, Sarah led him back to her car parked in the driveway.

Sarah was quiet on the drive back to Echo Park. Chuck could tell that something was off, and had been off since they had left her mom's house. But the dinner had gone surprisingly well, at least he thought it had. _Did I do something wrong? Did I embarrass Sarah in front of her mom or something_? He and Sarah had an incredibly strong connection, but the truth was that there was a lot about her that he just didn't know.

In the courtyard, they stopped by the fountain. Chuck hoped that a little levity might bring Sarah's mood back up.

"You know, considering the fact that we are boyfriend and girlfriend and this is the end of the date, I guess this is where I would be forced to kiss you."

Sarah smiled at Chuck's goofiness as she tried to buoy her spirits. "Forced? Would it be so bad?" Chuck tentatively bent down to brush his lips across Sarah's. Sarah gives him a perfunctory kiss, still lost in her thoughts about how deep her feelings for Chuck already were. She also thought about how any mistake-even unintended- could destroy not only him, but their relationship as well. She distractedly said, "I'll see you tomorrow Chuck."

Sarah reached up to pat him on the chest with her hand as she turned towards the archway to go back to her car. As she turned to go, Chuck reached out and grabbed her hand, "Sarah, what's going on? Did I do or say anything wrong in front of your mom?" It hadn't been the kiss he was hoping for, and Sarah still seemed a bit distant and pre-occupied.

With a sense of horror, Sarah realized that she was on the verge of making one of the mistakes that she was dreading on the drive from her Mom's. Grabbing both sides of his face, she quickly pulled Chuck into an intense kiss where it's just the two of them. The rest of the world faded away.

Devon chose that moment to pass through the courtyard, calling out "Take it to a room you two!" With a laugh and a quick wave he headed inside the apartment.

Sarah was stunned. That kiss had been a whole other level of intensity and intimacy from anything that she had experienced in the past. She needed the kiss more than she needed air to breathe. _Great, even more to think over_.

"You were perfect tonight Chuck. Just like always. Mom and I had a mother-daughter talk and I just need to sort some things out in my head. All good. Nothing bad," she assured him as she went up on her toes to give him another peck on the lips. _If we kiss again like the last time, Devon's warning might prove itself true_.

Sarah turned and headed to her car, her Mom's caution about inadvertent mistakes hurting Chuck already coming true. _I need Chuck in my life. Me, the independent, self-reliant woman who worked best when working alone needs someone_._ No, not just someone. Chuck_.

Sarah was so distracted that when she got in her Porsche and pulled away from the curb, she didn't notice another set of headlights come on and start tailing her as she drove off. Sarah was still so lost in thought that she didn't realize where she had been heading until she pulled into the parking lot. The long stretch of sand just north of the pier was calling to her like a Siren.

Kicking off her boots, she made her way out to sit and stare at the endless horizon of the sea.

As the sun started to rise above the mountains behind her, she was calmer, if no closer to answering the question that had been bouncing through her head the whole time: spies don't fall in love (_thanks, Carina, for that little pearl of wisdom_). _But I'm not a spy any longer so that rule no longer applies. And yet, I don't know how to do romantic love. I don't have any relationships that developed anywhere remotely close to the feelings that I have for Chuck. Every cell in my body is screaming out to protect Chuck from harm. But how do I do that if I am the biggest threat that he faces?_

Chuck strolled up next to her and plops down in the sand close by, but still giving her room in case she wanted or needed it.

"How long have you been here?"

"All night. I was worried about you when you left. I wanted to give you space but also wanted to be there if you needed to talk."

Sarah silently looks into Chuck's eyes. _Of course you did. Dropping everything to take care of someone who you care about. The Chuck Bartowski Special_.

Sarah broke eye contact with him to stare out at the ocean. Quietly she said, "I don't know how to do this without hurting you Chuck."

"Are-are you breaking up with me Sarah?" The fear on Chucks face was matched by the terror that Sarah felt when she realized how what she said had sounded.

"No! Oh god, no. Although you might be better off if I did. No, I meant that I don't know how to avoid making mistakes that will hurt you. I'm trying NOT to hurt you, and because I don't know what I'm doing since I've never had a relationship this important, I wind up hurting you while trying to protect you. I've never been in this deep. I don't know what to do or not do. And if I get it wrong you get hurt. We both get hurt. And the thought of hurting you makes me feel physically sick."

"I'm no more experienced than you," Chuck insisted.

"You had Jill. Future human punching bag if I ever meet her," Sarah groused.

Chuck let out a short laugh at that. "I did date Jill for a couple of years. And I did have strong feelings for her." Chuck gathered up her hands in his and looked deep into her eyes (_how long was it before he noticed anything other than your eyes?_). "But the truth is that I was never truly in love with Jill. It was more a wish to be in love And the truth is that my feelings for you are already far deeper , far more intense, for you than they ever were for Jill. So when you think about it, I don't have any more experience at this than you." Sarah swallowed hard at the look of sheer honesty on his face.

Sarah stared at him, the silence dragging on to the point it was uncomfortable. "But how do I make sure that I don't hurt you?"

"Would you hurt me deliberately?"

_It's not that simple, Chuck_. "No. Well, not unless you dumped me to go back to Jill."

"So what you are saying is that there is a snowball's chance in hell that you will deliberately hurt me," Chuck said with a grin.

"So what you are saying is that I've got a chance," Sarah shot back, quoting one of the few movies that she had seen on her down time between missions. Chuck wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders as he leaned back and laughed. Sarah started to laugh as well as she tucked in close to snuggle up next to Chuck. The close contact immediately brought a sense of calm to each, although neither was willing to admit that to the other.

"A pop culture reference to deal with an uncomfortable situation?" Chuck responded. "I'm so proud of you." Chuck mimicked wiping away a tear. "Although, I had always dreamed that your first pop culture reference would be from a Star Wars movie."

Sarah tilts her head to the side to look at Chuck, "You saying that you dream about me at night, Chuck?"

"Constantly," Chuck answered without a shred of embarrassment. "But I'll let you in on a secret. Reality is even better than my dreams."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: There's a New Chief In Town

A/N: To recap, Chuck has saved Sarah's sister, they are now dating exclusively, and Sarah has joined Nerd HQ. On to Ch. 7 where our duo faces Fulcrum and Von Hayes. And still no angst.

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Sarah tried very hard not to listen in on the phone call that Chuck had taken. Once Morgan had given his blessing to the new project, Sarah had leapt into the work. It was amazingly refreshing to be able to work on a project that would result in the greater good, without having to sacrifice her own morality to achieve that good. Even more encouraging was the positive responses that she had received from a number of non-governmental charity organizations that were dedicated to the various barriers to learning. The number of papers and studies that were sent her way were staggering. The hard part was reminding herself that they needed to take on one topic at a time.

Sarah had just finished reading over one of the latest studies on speech pathology and the use of emerging technologies when Chuck had fielded a call. She could pick up on the tension in Chuck's body as soon as he answered. She had heard a lot of "yes, but" and some "no, that's not" with a "fine, I'll be there" at the end. Chuck had then let out a long breath as he slumped dejectedly in his chair

"I'm going to have to go to San Francisco this Thursday," Chuck said, looking rather glum. "When Morgan and I were starting out, we signed a licensing deal with an established company. I told you about that earlier. We would make a game, sell it to the company and they would market it as theirs. Fulcrum apparently got wind of Valkyries Flight and now they are claiming that they have exclusive rights to it. They really, really want this software."

"I thought that the deal was if we sold a game to a developer that it had to be them, not that Fulcrum got the rights to anything we came up with," Chuck grumbled. Sarah knew how excited he and Morgan were for Valkyries Flight, and how much work and money Chuck had already put into the project.

Sarah didn't like seeing Chuck looking devastated. She knew full well that his dream was to make Nerd HQ a fully-fledged game company. "Would you mind if I looked over the contact?" She knew next to nothing about the gaming industry, but had seen a number of business contracts while working undercover at the bank. If she could help Chuck, she damn well was going to help Chuck.

Chuck readily agreed. While he knew that Sarah might not have a degree from an Ivy League school, the CIA and her dad were the ones to blame for her lack of college experience. She was brilliant in her own right, and her ability to recall even the slightest detail was staggering. A spark of hope shone in his eyes. Sarah saw the hope and was thrilled that he had such confidence in her.

Moments later, the contract appeared in her email inbox. A short time after that Sarah told Chuck that she had to cancel their date planned for that night. It had only been plans to go to an independent movie theater to see an airing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it was the first time that either had canceled a date. Chuck wondered how the week could get any worse.

But the week did get worse for him when Sarah suddenly announced a short time later that she had to travel out of town. She wouldn't tell him where she was going, or what she had to do. Chuck was a little concerned when Sarah studiously avoided eye contact with him when he had asked just what it was that she needed to do. Sarah left him with a promise to be back in time to accompany Chuck to the meeting on Thursday in San Francisco.

Sarah went dark as soon as she pulled away from the office, and Chuck only now realized how often they would speak or they would meet up pretty much every day. It felt incredibly lonely for her not to be in his life. It was a wake up call as to how important Sarah had become to him. Chuck didn't take her for granted in the least, but this was their first time having no contact for 24 straight hours, much less two straight days. They had been practically inseparable since the Pier. _I am officially addicted to Sarah Walker_, Chuck morosely concluded.

Chuck was stunned on Thursday morning when Sarah pulled up to Echo Park in her Porsche. She was wearing an elegant silver-grey business suit with a white blouse and just looked incredible. A powerful businesswoman ready for the meeting. Sarah was pleasantly frustrated. She needed to be focused for the upcoming meeting, but it was difficult to focus when Chuck looked at her in total rapture. It was getting to the point where just holding his hand threatened to make her combust. _The past two days apart had been torture_, Sarah admitted to herself. _Productive, but absolute torture_.

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The meeting started as Sarah had anticipated it would. Chuck's appointment was with Von Hayes. He was middle management at Fulcrum Corp, but he acted as smarmy and cocky as if he were the CEO. After introductions, where Hayes spent most of his time leering creepily at Sarah-much to Chuck's frustration- Von Hayes quickly got down to business.

"Word on the street is that Nerd HQ is trying to develop its own game," Von Hayes drawled out. "As you know, Fulcrum has exclusive rights to any concepts created by Nerd HQ. You can either hand over all the materials on the new game, with a reduced percentage for the game as a penalty for your attempt to breach the contract, or you can go before a judge where you will not only be ordered to give us the materials, pay damages for this attempted breach and pay our attorney fees. Your sad, pathetic little company will be no more." Von Hayes leaned back into his chair smirking at the devastation he was wreaking on Chuck.

"That deal was only supposed to be for exclusive rights to games we wanted to market through an outside company, and you know it," Chuck said, angry at his trust in Fulcrum's honesty being abused and more angry with how disrespectful the creep was being to Sarah.

"I may know that, and you may know that, but that is not what the contract you signed says. And that is all the judge will care about," Von Hayes concluded with a smirk. "Your company will be finished and so will you." The man leaned back in his chair, completely and utterly confident that he had just crushed Chuck's spirit.

If there was one thing that Sarah Walker hated, it was a smirker. If there was another thing, it was a smirker who threatened her guy. And right now, Sarah hated both Von Hayes and Fulcrum. "That sounds rather like extortion, Mr Hayes," Sarah spoke up in a deceptively calm tone.

"Ms Walker was it?" Hayes sneered. "Your job clearly is to sit there and look pretty. Why don't you go back to doing your job? You can watch as a man teaches a boy the rules of business."

Chuck nearly launched out of his seat at this treatment of Sarah. Without moving her head or blinking, Sarah reached over and pushed Chuck back into his seat. "You don't know me Mr. Hayes. Some consider me a ghost, slipping in and out of places without people ever realizing that I was there."

Chuck was thoroughly confused. How could anyone not be aware when Sarah was around? She was incredible. He noticed everything thing she did. But even he never saw her hand move, yet she was suddenly holding up a thumb drive.

"If Mr. Bartowski were to lose Nerd HQ, he wouldn't lose everything. He'd still have that amazing mind of his. He could start up another company, one with the backing of a venture capital firm, say Blackwater Sound Investments. With me by his side. However, we both know that he won't lose if we take this to court. That contract violates the statute of frauds. It is worth less than the price of the piece of paper that it's written on."

"So, you won't win. And you know that, at the very least, don't you?" Her dismissive tone was not lost on Von Hayes, who had stopped smirking and was paying rapt attention to Sarah and the thumb drive. "But let's discuss blackmail rather than extortion, why don't we? It would be better, more effective, if there were, say, incriminating photos and videos on some storage device."

Sarah waved her hand, with the thumb drive appearing and disappearing in her palm as though by magic. "Especially if the person in the photos was, oh I don't know, married to the daughter of the company founder." Sarah placed the drive on the conference table in front of her. With a single finger, she slid the drive across towards Von Hayes.

The Fulcrum executive stared silently at the device at the center of the table, sweat beading across his forehead. He was shaking as he dabbed at the sweat with a handkerchief. His expression had shifted from arrogant to terrified during the course of Sarah's comments.

"Fortunately for us, Mr. Bartowski doesn't enjoy trips to Bangkok when he's told his wife that he was in Vancouver at the time. Nor has he already booked another trip to Thailand and arranged for 'escorts' to be there waiting for him. But then I guess we're just lucky that way," Sarah said with a voice dripping with honey.

With a wave of her hand, four more thumb drives suddenly materialized in her hand. She fanned them out across the conference table. "Here's what we are going to do," Sarah resumed in a business like tone. The Ice Queen's glare was locked onto Von Hayes, who suddenly felt like defenseless prey being targeted by a lethal predator. "You, Mr. Hayes, will sign this memorandum of understanding. The MOU acknowledges that Nerd HQ has satisfied its contract with Fulcrum in full." Sarah retrieved a single sheet of paper from the briefcase that she had carried into the meeting.

Sarah stood, placing two hands on the conference table as she leaned across into the face of her adversary. "And there will be no word of any smear campaign against either Nerd HQ or Chuck Bartowski. If there is any hint of that, you and I will be having a much different conversation." Without looking, Sarah grabbed a pen off of the table and launched it, ballpoint first, at a company picture on the wall. The pen wound up embedded with its tip dead center of the forehead of the image of Von Hayes.

As fast as he could, Von Hayes grabbed another pen to sign the MOU, but it took several attempts as his hands were shaking so hard that he dropped the pen on his first few attempts. He then fled the conference room as quickly as he was able. Sarah tucked the signed document into her folder, before taking Chuck by the hand and leading him out of Fulcrum headquarters.

"What just happened there?" Chuck asked in a daze as Sarah stormed out of the front doors to the building with Chuck in tow. He was, in part, stunned by the quick turn of events and, in part, lost in the corporate-contract-speak that Sarah had rattled off.

"For one, he made me angry. No one threatens my Chuck," Sarah growled protectively. Chuck got the distinct impression that Sarah wanted to go back inside the building and pummel Von Hayes into the ground. "And second, he's a despicable human being. I looked at the agreement and Fulcrum doesn't have the rights he was claiming. He was lying to try to steal what belongs to you, to take your dreams. Lying, smirking scumbag." Sarah started to turn to head back.

Chuck reached out to grab her arm, steering her back towards her Porsche. "I lov... like you. I really, really like you," Chuck admitted, while wrapping her up in a hug that she did not want to end. He took a few steps back to see her with a demure smile and eyes sparkling, brimming with years of joy. Sarah knew that it was too early for the L word yet, but...

"I really, really…like you too Chuck."

Chuck was amazed at the turn of events. He had gone into the meeting dreading that he had messed up, and that his, Morgan's and now Sarah's dreams would be ruined because of him. He had also been preoccupied with Sarah, and wondering if her departure had been a sign that she was losing interest in their relationship. He knew now that his concerns with Sarah had just been his own insecurities being projected, unfairly, onto her.

Now he and Nerd HQ were out from under the thumb of Fulcrum, and his dream of growing Nerd HQ was one step closer to reality. Even more significantly, he had nearly admitted to Sarah that he was in love with her. Instead of running for the hills, Sarah had nearly admitted that she loved him as well. Life was great.

Sarah, far more relaxed than she had been in the boardroom, strapped herself into the driver's seat of her Porsche. She put the top down on the car and programed the nav system for a route back to Burbank that took them along the Pacific Coast Highway at a serene pace. Well, a serene pace for her-still a mildly terrifying pace for Chuck. She had her wayfarers on, the warm sun shining on her face, and a smile.

When they stopped for a late lunch at a small restaurant overlooking the Pacific, Chuck called Ellie to update her on the meeting. "Sis, Sarah was amazing! Well, she's always amazing, but today she was beyond amazing. One minute I'm convinced that my dreams are shattered and the next we were walking out of the door with a signed agreement that Fulcrum has no claims to any Nerd HQ products," Chuck looked over at Sarah, marveling at the woman who had become a central part of his life.

Chuck quickly handed the phone across the table to Sarah, she had no doubt at his sister's insistence. "He smirked at me," Sarah calmly said into the phone. "I hate smirkers. And I really hate smirkers who try to threaten my guy. I made sure that he knew the consequences of messing with Chuck."

Chuck beamed at Sarah as Ellie celebrated on the other end of the phone.

When their meal was complete, Chuck turned to Sarah with a serious expression. "I'll give you that Von Hayes was a rather despicable human being, and Fulcrum some evil empire, but in the future, I don't want you risking getting arrested for breaking into some company in order to get dirt on someone who is a threat to Nerd HQ. Nerd HQ is just a business. You are far more important."

Sarah merely cocked an eyebrow in response. _As if they stood a chance of catching Sarah Walker doing what she does best. Von Hayes was lucky that he didn't find out was I do second best. Then again, Chuck claims that kissing is what I do best. But only Chuck gets to experience me doing what I do best if that is the case_.

"Furthermore,…" Chuck started in.

With snake like reflexes, Sarah snatched up Chuck's tie and pulled him towards her. She never gave him the opportunity to finish his sentence, instead kissing him soundly with one hand fisting through his hair as the second held his tie in place.

"Gah," Chuck said when they both finally came up for air. "That is so not fair."

Sarah let out a good natured laugh, "Are you complaining right now?"

"No, no. Definitely not. It's just that I had something brilliant to say. Genius level stuff," Chuck boasted.

"Well," Sarah replied, hands on her hips. "Go ahead, genius. Let's hear it." She looked at him in expectation.

"You expect me to be able to say genius level stuff after that kiss? I'd be lucky if I'm able to spell my name, and I don't mean Bartwoski."

Sarah laughed again as she pushed her boyfriend towards the passenger door of her car for the final leg on their trip home. She was thrilled at how open Chuck was. How willing he was to admit that he was powerless-in a good way- against her. Which was good as she was just as powerless against him.

"How did you know at that stuff about MOUs and venture capitalists?" Chuck asked as they started back on the road.

"A lifetime ago, the CIA sent me to Harvard Business School to take some classes in preparation for a deep cover assignment at an international bank suspected of laundering money for drug dealers and terrorists," Sarah stated without any arrogance.

"Sarah Walker, Ivy Leaguer," Chuck said with pride. "I thought that you didn't get a degree?"

"Actually, there's no record of Sarah Walker ever taking a class at Harvard," Sarah replied a little down. "Director Graham had me enrolled as Rebecca Frankel."

"Degree in your name or not, it's still impressive," Chuck said, still clearly amazed at her abilities. "Your business know how just saved Nerd HQ. I was totally falling for his threats."

"I'm glad that I could help," Sarah said with a smile. "Besides, you've hired me to help with the educational software, so it could be purely self-interest that made me do that."

"Self-interest, huh?" Chuck responded with a matching grin. "What about that whole 'no one threatens my guy' bit?"

Sarah blushed in response, but reached across the console to link her fingers with Chuck's.

"Seriously, though," Chuck said as his smile dimmed, "you clearly know far more about the business world than me or Morgan. Von Hayes would have taken all of our ideas and almost all of the money. What would you think about doing more than heading up the learning programs?"

Sarah glanced over at Chuck, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Doing more like what?"

"COO," Chuck quickly said. "I've got the programing and ideas. Morgan has other ideas and is great at beta testing. But neither of us has any clue how to run a company. What do you say?" Chuck looked nervous, as though Sarah might reject him out of hand.

"Doesn't Morgan have a say in this?" Sarah asked, shocked that Chuck would entrust such a huge role to her.

"Please," Chuck said with a smile. "Anything that lets him spend less time doing paperwork and more time playing the games? There is no way that he'll say no. Trust me on that. He and I are good on the game creation end, but as far as business savvy, we're doomed. Help us Sarah Walker, you are our only hope."

"That's from Star Trek. Right?" Sarah said as she deliberately focused on the road ahead.

Chuck's eyes flared open in horror, as his mouth opened and shut. He was desperately trying to figure out how to correct her, and show her the error of her ways, when Chuck saw the corner of Sarah's mouth twitch upwards in a grin.

"You wound me, Sarah Walker," a much relieved Chuck replied.

Instead of a comeback, Sarah just reached over to lace the fingers of her right hand through Chuck's left hand as they wound their way south. They both had wide grins as the Porsche tucked tight into the winding turns of the Pacific Coast Highway.

A/N 2: A bit of an homage to Life Unexpected in there with the COO request. We're near the midpoint in the story. I'm going to try to keep up with the twice a week postings, but the next couple of chapters need revising, and with the holidays nearly on us it may not be as uniform a posting schedule as I would prefer.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8 A King's ransom

a/n: There is a plot device in this chapter that starts with a premise rather similar to one in David Carner's Reassigned (I've lost track of the number of times that I've read/re-read that tale), although I take it in a different direction. There is another facet that is somewhat similar to Grayroc's Second Chance. But as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism.

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It had become a Thursday night routine. Unless Ellie had a shift change or coverage issue, she and Sarah would met up at Cantina for margaritas and dinner. As great as things were with Chuck (it was already hard to remember how incomplete life had been pre-Chuck as it seemed a lifetime ago), Sarah also treasured her friendship with Ellie. With Chuck's encouragement, Sarah had told Ellie about being a spy. While Chuck had focused on the coolness factor, Ellie had been empathetic about working deep undercover where she couldn't trust anyone. Ellie had intuitively picked up on the fact that even Director Graham's mission motives couldn't be taken at face value.

The two women had become so close that Ellie had admitted that whenever Chuck and Sarah ultimately had their first fight, Ellie would almost certainly take Sarah's side- while also confessing that she would do pretty much anything to keep the two of them together. Ellie had made it clear to Sarah just how much she valued their time together. That made Sarah all the more concerned when a frazzled Ellie had called to cancel their dinner just as Sarah was about to head out the door to go to the restaurant.

"I'm so sorry. We've got an emergency at the hospital," Ellie regretfully said. "there's some type of computer demand for ransom and until the hospital pays it, we have no access to any patient records. We have no idea of who needs what medicine, when and how much. We have no information on surgery schedules. We don't know about allergies or past conditions. We're scrambling over here. Meanwhile the patients, and their families, are understandably getting more and more frantic."

"This computer attack has crippled our systems. Between the government agencies, AMA, insurance regulations, everything has to be documented, and everything was on our database. But now no one is able to get to the database. What kind of a sick bastard would do such a thing to a hospital? People will die because some asshole somewhere with a computer wants to get rich."

Sarah's thoughts were going a mile a minute. She might be retired, but she needed to help. And she knew someone who was really, really good with computers. "Ellie, that is horrible. You stay where you are and do whatever you have to do to keep your patients safe. Is there anything we can do? Bringing you some food sounds rather too small a gesture, but I will gladly do it."

"For a hardened ex-spy, you are awfully sweet," Ellie said in a sotto voice. Sarah thought back to when she had admitted her past to both Ellie and Devon. They were important to Chuck, and they were becoming more and more important to her. It had felt wrong to ask him to lie, even by omission, to those closest to him just to keep her past in the shadows.

Ellie had teased her about it, in private, but kept quiet about it whenever out in public. She understood and respected Sarah's desire, need, for secrecy. Plus, Ellie recognized that with her past, there could be dangerous men and women after Sarah. Protecting Sarah's secret meant keeping Chuck safe. And Chuck's safety was paramount to Ellie. Devon, on the other hand, thought it was 'awesome' and started lobbying Sarah to join him on his next white-water rafting, heli-skiing and/or mountain biking trip.

Ending the call with a promise to bring Ellie some sustenance, Sarah went in search of Chuck. Someone was causing trouble for a friend, and Sarah wasn't going to sit around and let it happen. She didn't have much of a past history of having close friends, but it did not sit well with her at all. A physical threat Sarah would be capable of easily handling on her own. But this was some sort of cyberattack. She needed Chuck. She was worried that she might need the Ice Queen. She was more worried as to how Chuck and Ellie would react to the Ice Queen's presence than she was worried about living with the actions that she had taken in the past as the Ice Queen. Sarah feared that that aspect of her personality would be repugnant to the moral code of the Bartowski siblings. _Maybe I could get any info that Chuck can gather and send it, discretely, to Casey to let the NSA handle it instead of exposing the Ice Queen personality to Chuck and Ellie_.

When she found Chuck, his eyes grew stormy at the news of the ransomware attack. _I hadn't realized that they could look anything other than full of light and laughter_. He let out a curt, "Let's go" before grabbing a messenger bag and slipping into the kitchen. He called ahead to a bistro located on the way to the hospital so that the food would be ready when they pulled up.

As they walked at a rapid pace into the hospital, Sarah stole quick glances at Chuck. Since the moment that she had told him of the attack on the hospital, he had been grim, with his jaw firmly set and clenched. Although they hadn't been together long, Sarah had never seen Chuck go more than a few minutes without breaking out into a smile. Thinking back to the childhood photo albums that Ellie had shared with Sarah (against Chuck's vehement protests and to Sarah and Ellie's laughter), nearly every photo in each album featured Chuck either laughing or grinning like a mad man.

It was a somber Chuck that approached Ellie with a bag of food and a demand for access to the hospital's servers.

"Baby brother, while I know that you are a genius, you design videogames. Leave this up to the IT department."

"Ellie," Chuck firmly responded, "there is no way that some IT staffers are going to be able to put a dent in a ransomware attack of this kind."

A nurse nearby with a phone to her shoulder nodded her head. "Dr. Bartowski, I just got word that the IT head told the Board there was no way to get the files back and to just pay up." Just then the nurse apparently reached whoever she had been calling and returned her concentration to the phone.

Chuck put his hands on Ellie's shoulders and confidently stated, "I can do this." He then looked at Sarah standing beside him. When his eyes met hers, he momentarily looked conflicted, much to Sarah's bewilderment.

His odd look aside, Sarah wasted no time in jumping in to support him with absolute conviction. "Ellie, he's our best shot." She didn't know what Chuck had planned, but she had zero doubt that there was, in fact, a plan.

Ellie led them through the labyrinthian maze to the hospital server room. One of the IT staffers was walking out of the door, shaking his head while talking on the phone. He never even noticed the three approaching. The whole walk to the server room, Sarah and Chuck had seen the chaos and bedlam caused by the cyberattack. Families were frantic, doctors and nurses struggled to care for the patients. The more they saw, the angrier they both got. The difference was that Sarah felt the rage boiling over, while Chuck just grew more and more focused on what needed to be done.

Ellie held the door open as Chuck confidently marched up to the banks of servers in the room. She watched as he reached into his satchel to pull out a laptop and several cables that he rapidly connected to the computer system. She was awash in emotions. Anger and frustration that a human being could be so callous as to jeopardize the lives of so many patients in order to steal money. Concern for her patients, mentally reviewing the file for each patient to remember the types, doses and frequency of medications that were needed.

But Ellie was also confused by Chuck's behavior. He somehow seemed convinced that he could do something when the IT department head had given up. Ellie had been pleased to see Sarah sticking up for Chuck, even if it was apparent that Sarah didn't know what Chuck had planned. But Chuck was a Bartowski, so she knew that he would need to help in any way that he could.

Ellie had also noted how protective Sarah had been of Chuck as they had made their way through the hospital. Any time there was an outburst, and there had been several, Sarah had immediately positioned herself between the potential threat and Chuck. Chuck might have been too focused on his task ahead to note the role of his protector, but Ellie had.

Chuck had quickly fired up his laptop, gaining administrative access to the operating system for the servers. Sarah was a little surprised by that, thinking that there should have been some type of security system in place. Sarah just shook her head, realizing that now was not the time to find out how Chuck had done that. Sarah also realized that Chuck was also far more accomplished than just designing videogames. Deciding that her patients needed her, and that Chuck was deep into his own world with the computers, Ellie took her leave from the couple.

Sarah had no clue what Chuck was doing. He was totally focused on the laptop in front of him. His fingers were flying across the keyboard, and characters dancing across the screen so fast that she had no idea how he had the time to read them all. Her role, for now, was to provide Chuck with whatever support he needed, and to protect him if anyone came to shut him down. After only a few minutes, Chuck started talking to himself as his fingers moved across the keyboard even faster. After an hour he said that he had restored access to the hospital records. Twenty minutes after that he had installed a custom built firewall.

Sarah was awash in conflict. She was thrilled for Ellie and the rest of the hospital that they were able to get back to work saving lives. But she was also concerned as to how Chuck had saved the day in less than an hour and a half, when the whole IT department for the hospital had given up. Ex-CIA agents, it seemed, weren't the only ones in this relationship keeping secrets.

Chuck then leaned back in his chair, took a big swig from a bottle of chardonnay that he had in his satchel (she really needed to ask him about that one), the cracked his knuckles before attacking the keyboard again. For the first time since entering the room, Chuck looked from the open bottle of wine next to him over to Sarah before saying, "Thinking juice." Then he focused on the screen once again, saying mostly to himself, "It's time to go hunting."

"Ah," he muttered a few minutes later. "Trying to get back in are we?" Several flurries of keystrokes followed that. Chuck craned his neck back and forth, small windows popping open and shutting just as fast on his screen. Sarah couldn't make out any discernable words among the characters flashing across these screens. But Chuck could apparently read them as easily as if they were words printed on the pages of a book.

It was a full hour before Chuck announced that he had traced the attack to a specific IP address. He searched Sarah's face for the answer to a question that only he knew. "I can stop them from pulling this again…at least for a little while." Having said that, Chuck went silent again for several minutes, focused on opening and closing window after window, typing in more of what appeared to be gibberish to Sarah. "Let me just clean up my tracks. And we're done."

Chuck shut his laptop closed, and turned to Sarah looking somber. "I've sent them a worm, buried deep. It'll take them a while to learn that it's even there. By then it should be too late. If it works as planned, it will cripple their servers and every workstation connected to those servers. It's not a permanent takedown," Chuck admitted, "but it's going to take some time for them to get back into business. Who knows, maybe they'll even stop trying to pull these attacks."

Chuck had trouble looking Sarah in the eyes. He sucked in a deep breath. "In college I did some hacking. Mostly going into systems just to see if I could. Then I would anonymously sending them info on how their systems were vulnerable so that they could be made safer. I never, ever took anything. I haven't done this in a long time. I just, I just don't want you and Molly to think that I'm some kind of criminal like the jerks responsible for the attack on the hospital."

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Four hours later Sarah's phone rang as she was wrapping up a training session at her gym. The 202 area code caught her attention immediately. "Casey," she said into the phone without any preamble.

"Walker," Casey responded. "It seems there was just a major ransomware attack in LA. Any idea as to how the sister of the computer guy that you had me look into just happens to work at a place that defeated a military grade cyberattack?"

Sarah was silent for a moment, and knew instinctively that she was silent for too long. It was a tell that Casey was guaranteed to pick up on. When Chuck had insisted on heading to the hospital, this had been what she feared- even though she had no idea at the time just how skilled he would turn out to be. But she had known with absolute certainty that Chuck had needed to do this, to at least try to help Ellie as well as the patients whose lives had been in danger because of the attack.

Sarah knew how smart Chuck was. She had seen how superior the Nerd HQ Games were compared to the next best product on the market. But witnessing Chuck in action had showed her that Chuck's talent with computers wasn't limited to videogames. The hospital's head of IT had given up, yet in the space of a few hours, Chuck had restored access to the servers, protected the hospital computers against a repeat attack, as well as located and temporarily disabled the group responsible.

He hadn't consulted with her on his plan to take down the people responsible, but Sarah agreed that it was the right thing to do. The problem was that that it was going to attract the attention of others who would want Chuck's skills. Chuck would be vulnerable to an attack. She would be vigilant. She would defend him, protect him, keep him and his family safe.

The government, particularly the NSA, were always on the lookout for people skilled at computers. And they could be aggressive in getting what they wanted. They were going to want Chuck. Badly. A guy who could do things on a computer that didn't even seem possible. She could help protect him from the government, but she was going to need to be careful. She was no longer an active agent, so Director Graham would have no incentive to back her on a play against the NSA.

Casey's call to her was a warning-and a courtesy. Chuck was about to attract a lot of unwanted attention. They needed to come up with a plan. The heads up from Casey, who had connected dots that the NSA wasn't aware of yet, gave greater urgency to that planning. The NSA didn't like to hear "no", plus working for them would mean (official) protection for Chuck. But for one thing, they would want him at Fort Meade. For another thing, no one could protect Chuck as well as she would.

But Casey's call was as important in what he didn't say, as it was in what he did say. They hadn't been able to officially tie Chuck to the hack. Given how skilled he seemed, it wasn't likely that the NSA would find enough to prove that it was him. Chuck had been in a hurry to restore access, and may have left a few breadcrumbs at that stage. But he had been methodical at the end, erasing the traces of his efforts. However, in the eyes of the NSA that would make Chuck an even more valuable asset.

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Sarah had cut short her workout and raced over to Chuck's apartment in her sweat drenched work out gear. It didn't seem that the NSA was in Burbank-yet-but it didn't pay to take chances where Chuck's safety and freedom were at stake. In the parking lot at Echo Park, Sarah accessed a hidden compartment under the back seat of her Porsche. She had hoped that once she left the CIA that she would never need to use her weapons cache. But if she was about to face an NSA grab team, she would need more firepower than her trust Smith & Wesson.

Sarah didn't bother knocking. She made short work of picking the lock on the front door. "Chuck, we've got a situation-and I'm partly responsible for it. Back when I went looking for you to thank you for saving Molly-and possibly because I wanted to spend some more time with you," Sarah added with a slight blush, "well, the guy I contacted was with the NSA. The NSA knows that the cyberattack was defeated from within the hospital. They know that a white hat hacker both secured the hospital system and crashed the system of the people responsible. My NSA contact discovered that your sister works for the hospital, and he knows that you know computers. If there are any ties between you and the hack, he will see it as his duty to report your connection. Duty is everything to the guy."

It was a couple of hours later, with Chuck and Sarah still ensconced in his apartment, when Ellie caught up to them. She was exhausted but much relieved. "I can't believe the hospital computers came back up. My brother saves the day! I don't even want to know how, do I?" Ellie shot Chuck an unmistakable 'we are so going to talk later' look.

A somber Sarah stepped up to Ellie, resting her hand on Ellie's forearm, "Chuck did save the day, but we need to keep this secret. The people behind this attack are dangerous, and they likely expected to make a lot of money from this. People like that don't appreciate the knight in shining armor who saves the day. And when dangerous people lose out on money, especially lots of money, people usually wind up getting hurt. And you-we-we do not want your brother getting hurt."

Ellie slumped against the wall, "Ugh, I want to shout from the rooftops that my brother is a hero. But I hear you. No one is to know that Chuck saved the hospital."

"You know, he knows…and so do I," Sarah responded with complete conviction and with an unmistakable look of adoration towards Chuck.

Chuck flushed with the praise from the two most important women in his life, "That's all I want or need sis." He wrapped his sister in a tight hug.

Ellie turned to Sarah. "You will keep him safe." It wasn't an order or a question. It was Ellie acknowledging a reality. And it was Ellie showing complete confidence in Sarah. Now all Sarah had to do was to figure out how to uphold that confidence.

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A/N 2: Another chapter on the shorter side. The next couple should be longer. Coming up next, Casey enters the scene. Spoiler, he and Sarah may have an issue playing nice with each other.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Hunt For A Hacker

A/N: I missed my regular posting schedule given the US holiday and after getting a bit sidetracked with helping David Carner with the first couple of chapters in his newest story, Ski School. I'm going to try to keep to the twice a week postings for Gravit, but I'm doing some serious renovations to a couple of the upcoming chapters. When we left off, Chuck had saved the day, but drew some unwanted attention to himself in the process. The fallout from that heroism continues.

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John Casey was in LA hunting for a hacker. The NSA had no luck tracing the person behind the counter-cyberattack. They knew that it came directly through the servers, and were confident that it was not anyone logging into the servers from offsite. But that was as far as they'd been able to get. Some underlings at headquarters were checking on the backgrounds of all hospital staffers and contract workers to see if there were any suspects. He knew that this was busy work, the equivalent of buying a lottery ticket in the hopes of striking it rich.

They had already reviewed all of the security footage from the hospital to try to see who had approached the server room around the time the counterattack had started. The security cameras for the entire hospital complex, including parking garages, were all blank starting at the moment the ransomware attack started. The NSA knew that the loss of security camera footage was not the result of the ransomware attack, but there was no evidence as to the cause.

Besides the access to the servers being restored and the security footage being wiped clean, a new non-commercial firewall had been installed on the hospital servers, and the North Korean perpetrators had been both identified and temporarily disabled. The situation evolved from the hospital being crippled to the hospital being fully functional and the perpetrators crippled in the space of just an hour.

The resident NSA geeks (and, in Casey's opinion that was saying something considering most of the NSA was comprised of geeks) were practically drooling over the code in the firewall. It was supposedly a thing of beauty. As in it put all commercially available firewalls to shame-_even those damned Russians at Kapersky who had outed the NSA's Stuxnet_. As if Casey had needed more reason to despise the Russians.

Casey had been mulling over the list of hackers who were suspected of having the skill to pull off the Westside Hospital reverse hack. It was a short list. Of that list, only two were suspected of residing in the United States-although that was more a matter of conjecture than proof. Orion and Piranha. Very, very little was known about either, and nothing had been heard from either for several years. But someone had boots on the ground at Westside Hospital, and Casey was getting more and more confident that the person was Chuck Bartowski.

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Before the orders had come through sending him to LA, Casey had been clicking through the hospital employee database as he tried to wrap his head around the investigation. His fingers paused of their own volition as he was about to click to the next name in the Neurology Department. He looked down at the screen and saw a surname that he had come across recently. Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski, MD. The sister of the man that Sarah Walker had asked him to check on. The good doctor had been a brief mention in the report on the target- a man who happened to be a rising star in the software industry.

_What are the odds that a rising star software designer just happens to be the brother of a doctor who's hospital was subjected to a ransomware cyberattack? And that said brother not only lives in LA, but lives with his sister? That would also explain the delay in the response to the attack. It hadn't made sense that someone on site would wait that long if they possessed the skills to strike back. _

_ Why was Walker so interested in this guy? The near drowning of her sister checked out. And spies hate having their real names (to the extent that Sarah Walker is a real name) on public records. Does she know anything about this attack by the North Koreans? Does she know anything about the counterattack?_

_ "Walker, it seems there was just a major ransomware attack in LA. Any idea as to how the sister of the computer guy that you had me look into just happens to work at a place that defeated a military grade cyberattack?_"

_Walker was silent too long. She knows something. It has to be Bartowski that pulled this stunt. Ok, he did some good. But nobody should be able to do what he did to the North Koreans. What game is Walker playing? Is she even really retired?_

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Casey paused on the sidewalk in front of the hospital, picked up his phone and dialed the number again from memory, "Walker, I'm in LA heading up the team to find Westside Hospital's hacker. The North Korean cyberwar group was responsible for the failed attack. Word is that they are out for blood."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Casey knew that he was angry, and operating on gut instinct, neither of which were optimal scenarios for a telephonic interrogation, especially of an elite level former spook. The silence for a second or two would seem normal to regular people. To a spy it was an eternity. Walker knew something, and she was so close to it (him?) that she wasn't able to hide her tell. _Bartowski is definitely the white hat hacker. And Walker knows it._

"What it the hell is going on Walker?" Casey demanded, his anger boiling over at the thought that he had somehow been played by the ex-CIA agent so that she could locate Bartowski. Was this some elaborate ruse by the CIA to try to secure Bartowski as a CIA asset? "You know that I have to report this. An American citizen attacking a foreign government? He belongs to the NSA as of right now. You need to surrender him immediately."

The hiss of breath intake at the word "belongs" was audible over the phone. Casey had been upset about the possibility of being used, and by lashing out he had overplayed his hand. The voice that he heard next told him just how far he had gone overboard. It wasn't the voice of Sarah Walker. It was the voice of the Ice Queen. And that meant trouble.

"Chuck Bartowski will be surrendering himself to no one Agent Casey. And don't give me that bullshit about attacking a nation-state. You know as well as I do that the North Koreans can't accuse him of a damn thing without admitting that they were behind an attempt to blackmail a hospital which resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of lives being put at risk. And the NSA can't accuse Chuck of attacking North Korea without admitting that the North Koreans carried out an attack on the US that wasn't stopped by the NSA, but by a civilian hero."

Sarah didn't pause long enough for Casey to try to get in some damage control, "But if the North Koreans contact you, you can pass along the same message that I'm sending to the NSA: if you want Chuck Bartowski, you have to go through me, so bring body bags. Lots and lots of body bags." The phone went dead. The message had been sent, there was no need to wait for a response.

_Ah hell, I may be the one who needs a body bag when Beckman learns about this._

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Sarah needed to get Chuck ready for the fallout from his lastest bout of heroism. She put away her phone and found her boyfried sitting on the living room sofa.

"We need to talk." Chuck grew wide-eyed, assuming the worse from high school experience of girls uttering those same words to him. "That situation that I'm responsible for, it's gotten worse. The cyberattack on Westside was from an elite North Korean military unit. They are searching for the hacker, as is the NSA. There are now two powerful groups after you. The NSA are already in town. I'm sorry."

"You are not responsible for this situation any more than I am. The North Koreans bear the blame, but somehow I suspect that they don't care. I had to do what I could in order to help the hospital, to help the people whose lives were in danger," Chuck asserted, maintaining eye contact with Sarah to let her know both that she was in no way to blame and that he did not regret his actions.

"First you save Molly. Now a hospital full of people. My friend Carina over at the DEA was always frustrated because she could never figure out what type of guy I was interested in. Turns out that I do have a type- curly haired, nerdy superheroes," Sarah said with a wry grin. When Chuck's look turned to one of shock, she continued, "What can I say? It's a very specific type."

Sarah sent a coquettish look Chuck's way, amazed that he could make her joke when the NSA was bearing down on him, and by extension her. There was something about him that allowed her to lower her guard, to him at least. Lowering it for him? Never.

"Do I need to be on guard?" Chuck asked. Sarah began to wonder if reading minds was included in his super power repertoire. Then Chuck continued, "You know, in case a cadre of curly haired superheroes come running down the street?"

Sarah replied with a beaming smile, "I think that it is safe to say that you are one of a kind, Chuck Bartowski." A moment later her smile faded away. "And the NSA is after you because you are one of a kind. An incredibly talented kind."

Chuck's grin dimmed as well. "Did your friend give you any idea as to how much time we have before the silent black helicopters show up to grab me?" Sarah looked thoroughly lost at the helicopter reference. "You know, like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory? Although as much of a crush as I may have had on Julia Roberts, you are way ho…Uh, right. Time frame? Any clue?"

Sarah's face went through a range of emotions: first confused by the pop culture reference, then flattered at the near confession of a crush, on to amusement at his awkward attempt to cover up his near confession, and finally to sheepish at what she now needed to confess. "Uh, well, we may have a bit of time. I suspect that the NSA will be a little cautious about making their move."

It was now Chuck's turn to look a little confused. With a wry grin he asked, "What did you do Sarah? Threaten the entire National Security Agency?"

Sarah cringed and ducked her head, "Well…uh, you see…the thing is this…um, this is the thing…"

Chuck's mouth gaped open, "Sarah," he choked out. "Oh my god, Sarah. You can't just threaten the NSA!"

Sarah's sheepish look was replaced by a stern visage, "He threatened you. You were the hero. Despite the fact that they've got no proof that you actually did it, he 'demanded' that you surrender yourself to the NSA."

Chuck's face paled at the word surrender. His mouth dried out as he tried to think of what to say. "What, ah, what did you say? In response? What was the threat that would make the NSA stop in its tracks? They have a bit of a reputation for being ruthless and nearly omnipotent."

Sarah stared at her feet for a moment before raising her head and looking solemnly at Chuck. Ever since he had reciprocated her interest at the breakfast in Echo Park, she had known that this moment would come. She had dreaded it. Hoped against hope that it would be months down the road, far enough down that his feelings towards her would buy her enough time to make for a redemption of a career of doing bad things to worse people in the name of national security. But Chuck needed to know, deserved to know, before he was committed any further to the relationship. Because he was too honorable. He would stand by her even as he was repulsed by her deeds if he got in too far.

"I warned him that he would need to bring a lot of body bags if an NSA grab team was sent to get you." Sarah's voice was steady, her gaze unflinching. "Casey knows enough to understand that it was not an idle threat. Before I left the CIA, I developed a reputation. I was the top agent in Director Graham's arsenal. I never failed a mission. Most of my missions were either breaking and entering or glorified con jobs. I would go in, grab whatever the mission objective was, and get out without the opposition realizing what had just happened."

"But there were other missions. Some that required brute force entry and egress. Some where the sole objective of the mission was to eliminate a threat," Sarah's look and voice still did not waver. The unspoken message was crystal clear- I am deadly. "I was also Director Graham's top agent for these missions."

Sarah paused, a fearful expression overtaking her face. Thinking about how an inherently good person would react to so much death on her hands had been bad. Hearing the words spoken aloud was so much worse. Chuck looked at her, his own expression changing from confusion to awareness.

"You think that I'm going to see you as some type of monster now, don't you?" Chuck paused as Sarah mutely responded with a single, tentative nod of the head. "Let me ask you. When we saw those SEALs in Coronado, did I look at them as monsters, or did I look at them with respect for their service and gratitude for the sacrifices that they are constantly called on to make in order to protect our country?"

Sarah was silent for a moment as she processed this unexpected interruption from Chuck. What he said made sense, but those SEALs were people that he just met in passing. She had to be sure that Chuck understood just how serious she was, just how lethal she could be.

"Casey is aware of some of the missions that I undertook. He's likely heard scuttlebutt about other missions, similar to those SEALs in Coronado. He knows that one on one, his agents wouldn't stand a chance against me. Even as a complete team, he knows that there would be carnage to his grab team if they made a move around me. The NSA would have a hard time trying to keep secret the deaths of so many agents. Don't get me wrong. The members of NSA grab teams are very good at what they do. I am just better. Or, some might say, worse."

Chuck realized that Sarah wasn't getting his point. She still looked at her deeds and saw only death and destruction, without recognizing the good that was achieved, the lives that were saved. "Why would I have anything other than respect and gratitude for you and what you have done, when you have probably done more for our country than the SEALs? Why would I fear a hero?"

Sarah was dumbfounded. She knew that he was being honest. Chuck had what was likely the world's worst poker face. She also knew that he was incredibly smart. What she didn't know was why he didn't get it. She had done horrible things. Heroes do good deeds, not horrible acts.

"Chuck," Sarah continued, trying to get him to understand, "there is a big difference between shooting someone in combat and poisoning a team of French assassins."

Chuck paused at the oddly specific reference, then thought about the implication. She had taken out a team of elite assassins who had been after her. The possibility that she could have died long before he ever had the chance to meet her. A chill went through his body at the very thought. "So, to be clear, you think that the issue with the assassins was that they died without the opportunity to defend themselves? An honorable death so to speak?"

Sarah looked at Chuck warily. He was too calm in discussing such a gruesome topic. He had some logical trap planned, but she couldn't spot it. Yet. But she knew that it had to be there. "Yes."

"Isn't it true that there are snipers in the military? Doesn't the Navy launch cruise missiles from hundreds of miles away, destroying targets and killing people who have no idea that they are about to be attacked? Do those servicemen and servicewomen deserve derision instead of respect because their opponents didn't know that death was imminent?"

"While I appreciate the sentiment Chuck, again, there is a big difference between acts done in wartime versus espionage, skulking around in the dark," Sarah responded, struggling between wanting to believe what Chuck said and wanting him to accept the truth.

"That is true," Chuck conceded, seeing Sarah flash a grim smile in victory, but he also noted the light dimming in her eyes-clearly this was an argument that she would prefer not to win, but had convinced herself was true. "but the news a few weeks back about some Yemeni warlord who kidnapped a bunch of humanitarian workers. But the workers were rescued in the middle of the night by a team of Navy SEAL- ooh, what if those were the very same SEALs who we met? Right, right. Burying the lead there Chuck."

Chuck took a moment to take her hand in his, lacing their fingers, joining her to him. "Anyway, those SEALs, who we may or may not have met, snatched the aid workers right out of the middle of the warlord's camp. I'm fairly certain that Congress had not declared war on Yemen, or against a random Yemeni warlord. So everyone that the SEALs killed that night was technically not an enemy combatant. The kidnappers almost certainly had no idea that the SEALs were there, so any deaths would not be self-defense. How was that any different from what you were sometimes called upon to do? The actions of those SEALs were not only lawful, but also necessary, justified and heroic. The same as you."

"Chuck, there is still a big difference between SEALs deploying from a helicopter in camouflage BDUs and me at a gala in a cocktail dress. Or that one time when I was in a bodysuit…You ok there Chuck?" Sarah looked at him curiously, concerned by his reaction as he had just jerked and gone cross-eyed.

Chuck looked up as he hastily tried to clean up the coffee that he had spilled when his hand had suddenly jerked. He quickly looked back down at the spill, but not before Sarah noticed the blush in his cheeks.

"Chuck, were you just…Were you just picturing me in a bodysuit? You were, weren't you? Why, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah said adopting a faux outraged tone, "I will simply not stand for such objectification!" Sarah slid closer to Chuck, switching from offense to her best sultry voice. "I'll have you know that the mission called for Skin. Tight. Leather. Bodysuit. Nothing else would have worked for that mission. Are you picturing me in a black, form fitting, skintight leather, Chuck? Come to think of it, I still have that outfit. I wonder if I could still squeeze into it. Would you like for me to model it for you sometime, Chuck?" She slid her hand up and down his arm.

Chuck swallowed hard, his eyes starting to shift from her eyes down as far as her throat before snapping back to her eyes. Beads of sweat peppered his forehead. For her part, Sarah couldn't believe that she was laughing and teasing Chuck when the initial topic of conversation had been the NSA coming for Chuck. "There's no right answer to that question, is there?"

Sarah sat back with a grin, wondering just what it was about the man across from her that brought out her playful side. After a moment or two, Chuck collected himself enough to finish cleaning up his spilled coffee, and wipe the beads of sweat off of his head.

"So, what are our options," he finally asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

"Option 1 is that we run," Sarah said, careful to keep her voice neutral. It mattered to her that Chuck decide what was best for him, not what he thought that she thought was best. It always thrilled her that Chuck valued her opinion so greatly. But this was big. This had to be his choice, and his alone. "Upside is that you would be free from the NSA. Downside would be that we would constantly be looking over our shoulder. You would never be able to contact Ellie and Devon. You would have to abandon Nerd HQ. And, you would be stuck with me permanently."

"In all honesty," Chuck calmly replied, "that last part isn't a downside. That would go in the upside category. From my point of view at least." Sarah smiled widely as she reached across to take Chuck's hand. But Chuck grew quickly pensive. "But if we run, that means that you would have to abandon your mom, abandon Molly. I won't do that. Not to you, to them or to me. What are our other options."

Sarah had known that Chuck would rail against abandoning his own family, but to be so noble as to reject the option because it would mean that she would abandon hers? She fell that much harder. She also realized that them running had a ton of downsides, but to be together would be a huge upside for her as well.

"Option 1 is not ideal, but let's table it for now rather than reject it out of hand. Option 2 would be to do as Casey demands and surrender yourself to the NSA. They would ship you off to the East Coast. You would have minimal contact with family, and all contact would be heavily monitored. You would be locked away, essentially indentured servitude, until they decide that your 'debt' to society has been repaid."

"And what about us," Chuck asked while squeezing her hand as though it was some sort of lifeline. Sarah felt flushed with warmth on realizing that Chuck had fallen for her just as deep and hard as she fell for him.

"There would be no us," Sarah said grimly. "There is no way that the NSA would permit you to have contact with a former CIA deep cover agent. The risk would be too great that you would chafe under restricted life and decide that Option 1 was better. And that would have been the case before I threatened Casey."

Sarah was caught off guard by Chuck smiling in response.

"God, you are so badass," he said in an awestruck tone.

"I threaten the lives of NSA agents who would be doing their jobs-granted to carry out an illegal order-and you find that sexy. I'm starting to get the impression that there is something wrong with you Chuck."

"Oh, there are plenty of things wrong with me. But that's a conversation for another day. No sense in running you off when you are the one protecting me from the clutches of the NSA."

"Ah, the truth will out. Always looking out for Number 1 aren't you?" Sarah laughed at the irony of her statement. Their predicament was caused by Chuck's willingness to risk himself in order to help others, including complete strangers.

"That's what they say, that I'm self-absorbed."

"Who are 'they'? I'll put them on the list of people in need of an ass-kicking," Sarah said with a smirk.

"Ok, well," Chuck stammered while blushing a deep red, "I just found you, so Option 2 is a non-starter. That and the whole East Coast indentured servitude thing. That as well."

"'Just found you'? Does that mean that you plan on keeping me around for a while?" Sarah asked while reaching across with her free hand to clasp his.

"Check back with me in 40 or 50 years," Chuck quietly replied while staring into her eyes. Sarah felt her heart skip a beat. While it had sounded worse when she had spoken aloud the deeds that she had done in service for the CIA that still haunted her, hearing Chuck say what she had been thinking sounded so much better. It was a powerful, watershed moment. They were both on the same page, wholly committed to the other. Things had moved fast since that fateful day on the Santa Monica Pier.

Sarah sat quietly for a moment, Chuck's hand still tightly clasped in her own as she collected herself. After allowing herself a few seconds to lose herself in the depths of Chuck's eyes, Sarah brought back up the topic at hand. "So, surrender is not an option. A life on the run is far from ideal. That would bring us to Option 3-parlay."

"As you wish, Ms. Swan," Chuck replied in a mock formal tone.

"I swear to God, I am never doing movie night with you again if you are just going to drop pop-culture references all over the place."

"Ok, ok," Chuck called out, raising his free hand up as though surrendering. "No need to threaten movie night. Besides, you'd be more of a Jacqueline Sparrow than Elizabeth Swan."

"Captain Jacqueline Sparrow. Captain," she replied, squinting across at Chuck with a barely repressed smile.

"I don't see a ship," Chuck responded with a grin, that quickly faded away. "So, Option 3 it is. We negotiate."

"We are going to face this together."

"Together," Sarah promised.

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A/N2: A tip of the hat to James Mowrey for his figuring things out on the cyberattack. Up next, a face to face with John Casey.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10_: Negotiations Within Negotiations

A/N: The chapter where Casey, Chuck and Sarah meet face to face. What could go wrong?

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Casey circled the block around the diner one final time, looking for anything suspicious or seemingly out of place. Walker had insisted that he come alone to the diner for the meet. He knew of Walker from her days at the CIA. He respected her abilities as an agent. But respect did not necessarily equate to trust.

The heart of his suspicion lay with how invested she was in this Bartowski kid (failing to recognize his own bias against the civilian when he viewed Sarah, the same age as Chuck, as an equal, as a peer). While it could be understandable for her to feel gratitude towards Bartowski over his rescue of Walker's little sister, gratitude didn't explain the promise that the NSA grab team would end up in body bags (and he knew that the former CIA Wild Card Enforcer was perfectly capable of delivering on that promise).

But Walker also knew the rule-spies don't fall in love. Casey knew that there were some exceptions to that rule. But she had just met the kid. He would need to be a really smooth operator to break down all of the barriers to get past the cynicism and distrust of a spy, even a supposedly now ex-spy, in order to win her heart. And there had been nothing in his background to suggest that Bartowski could claim be that guy.

But Casey did know a few facts for certain. First, whoever shut down the North Korean cyberattack on the Westside Hospital had a once in a generation talent that would be a huge asset to the NSA. Second, the counterattack had been carried out on site at the hospital. Third, it was incredibly unlikely that there was anyone else other than Chuck Bartowski who could possibly have the computer skills to do this. Fourth, there was no solid evidence to pin this on Bartowski. None. A check on cell phone tower hits showed that Bartowski's phone was pinging on three different towers around Echo Park at the time the cyberattack was defeated. But if a hacker was good enough to repel a government backed cyberattack, he or she would be good enough and smart enough to spoof cell tower records. Fifth, Walker's threat was not to be taken lightly.

Casey scanned the street before exiting the Crown Vic and making his way to the front entrance to the diner that Walker had specified. As he opened the door, he spotted Bartowski fidgeting in a booth in the far corner. _Good, at least the kid is nervous_. Casey also saw blonde hair spilling out from underneath a black ball cap from the female companion at the table. Casey was instantly on guard-_Something is up. No way that Walker would sit with her back to the front door_.

But the woman with Bartowski was the right height, the right build, and clearly relaxed. Not the way someone would be just before springing a trap. Casey still couldn't see the woman's face, and he wasn't pleased with that fact. _Something is definitely wrong_. But Casey couldn't figure out what, and given his previous mistake with Walker, combined with the edict from Beckman, he had no choice but to proceed. He walked towards the booth, his right hand casually draped over his belt buckle. He hadn't grabbed his precious Sig Sauer P226, but he could have it out and firing in the blink of an eye.

Bartowski's eyes briefly flared open as the bulky NSA agent approached the table with a hard look on his face. Casey saw the woman still in response, preparing, yet not coiling for an attack. She wasn't tense, although she clearly knew that there was a threat coming up behind her. _What in the hell is going on here_, Casey wondered, becoming more convinced that Bartowki's diner companion was not the infamous Sarah Walker.

The woman was clearly expecting company, but she was surprisingly relaxed. Confident. Casey hated it when the opposition was confident, although he could use overconfidence to his advantage. As he neared the table, he all but ignored Bartowski, focusing on the woman who subtly dipped her face down and away from him.

It wasn't until he was fully in front of the table that the woman turned her head to face him. The all too familiar blue eyes danced with equal parts of mirth and mischief, "Hiya Johnnyboy."

_Ah, hell_. Casey's jaw clenched, his teeth audibly grinding together as his lips thinned to a flat line. "Miller?!" He spat out. He started to spin as he realized that this was, in fact, a trap. He had turned to the left to check the diner door just as the barrel of a pistol jabbed into his right kidney.

"I told you to come alone," snarled a very pissed off Sarah Walker, her fury evident and clearly at odds with the Ice Queen that Casey had interacted with occasionally in the past.

"I gave you my word, Walker," Casey snapped, upset over the fact that his honor was called into question rather than from being held at gun point. "You know that I don't go back on my word. Although, if I had known that you were bringing Carina I would have thought twice about coming."

"Explain the NSA goons in the GMC Yukon out back."

"This is an off the books meet. You have my word, I didn't tell anyone at the NSA where I was going or who I was meeting," Casey insisted, glaring at Carina while Sarah stayed positioned behind him. Any attempt to turn to face Walker could be taken as a hostile act. And today did not strike Casey as a particularly good day to die.

Carina kept her eyes on Casey as she spoke in Polish to Sarah, "Casey is the type to follow orders, but if he give you his word- you can count on that."

Responding in Polish, Sarah asked, "Would you bet your life on that?"

It was a harsh question, but fair given the circumstances. Carina let out an exasperated huff as she rolled her eyes, shifting to look over Casey's shoulder at Sarah. Carina took her eyes off of Casey as proof of how big a deal it was for him to give his word. She responded in English, "Yes. If he gives you his word, you can trust him."

Sarah kept her eyes on Casey, and her gun unwaveringly trained on him. But she backed up, motioning for Casey to sit in the booth next to Carina. Casey looked as though he would rather face a root canal without sedation than sit next to the unpredictable DEA agent, but after a moment's pause did as he was instructed.

Meanwhile, Carina popped an eyebrow as Sarah took her seat next to Chuck, scooting over so that she was flush against Chuck's left side. Sarah would never admit it aloud to either Carina or Casey, but she needed the physical contact with Chuck to ground herself in the situation. Casey, for his part, sat with his hands palm down on the table top. Making eye contact with Sarah, he nodded towards his suit jacket pocket.

"May I?"

"Two fingers, and slowly," Sarah growled in response.

As instructed, Casey slowly reached into the interior breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a cellphone. He turned up the volume loud enough that it could be heard without having to put it on speakerphone. He unlocked the phone and dialed a number from memory.

"Major Casey, what do you have to report?"

"General," Casey began respectfully, "I am trying to meet with a CI."

Sarah and Carina both looked shocked, while Chuck only looked lost. Sarah leaned over to whisper in Chuck's ear, causing him to shiver before he processed her words. "He's talking to his top boss, General Beckman, head of the NSA. He just told her that he's meeting a confidential informant- the CI- instead of saying that he already had a suspect. For John Casey that is willfully misleading a superior, tantamount to insubordination."

Casey glared at Sarah, clearly not comfortable with her characterization of his actions. "General, there's an NSA tail on me. Two males in a Chevy Tahoe. Is there something going on related to the ransomware investigation that I am not aware of?"

"Negative, Major. You are in charge of the investigation into the ransomware attack on Westside Hospital, as well as the submission on the defeat of that attack. I have not authorized any additional surveillance. If that is all, I've got a briefing for the Joint Chiefs to prepare for." The General abruptly terminated the call. Chuck found the dismissal to be somewhat rude, but neither Casey, Carina nor Sarah seemed surprised by the abrupt ending.

Casey looked concerned for a moment-which struck Chuck as odd, considering how casual Casey had been about Sarah pointing a gun at him this whole time. "Walker, I want to check on the two surveillance agents. They aren't official, and something has Beckman spooked. Before I left, she had mentioned that the JCS brief wasn't going forward. What is the status of the two targets in the Yukon."

"Breathing," Sarah replied. "They should be out cold for a good 10 to 15 minutes longer."

"Fine," Casey responded. "We can cut the chit chat and get down to it so that I can go find out who those jokers are, and get a cleaner crew to take them somewhere where we can have a nice, long chat." A wicked grin broke out on John Casey's face at the prospect.

Chuck swallowed hard, envisioning the type of "chat" that the imposing NSA agent would have with people who were spying on him.

"I know that Bartowski pulled the defense on the ransomware attack on Westside Hospital," Casey continued. "I can't prove it. Yet. But I will. For now, we don't have the time for me to play detective on that." Casey paused for a moment to look across the table at Sarah, calculating his next words, "Whoever," he said sarcastically, "was responsible for the hack, he cost the people responsible not only a seven figure payday from the Westside ransom, but reportedly crippled their hardware back home-damaging their ability to complete whatever other ransomware attacks that they had going on. This meant cutting off the revenue stream until that hardware gets replaced. Given the sanctions in place against North Korea, it will be difficult for them to replace their servers any time soon. They can't just stroll into a nearby BuyMore. They've got to set up strawman buyers and then smuggle the equipment out of some third party country. That also takes time and money."

Casey leaned back against the booth cushions, "In a vacuum, this all sounds great. The bad guys lose out, and keep on losing. But we don't live in a vacuum. The handful of people in charge of North Korea depend on that income stream in order to prop up both their regime and their lifestyles. That hack just cost them tens of millions of dollars, easily. These are folks in command of both military and intelligence services."

"Now, if the hack had come from the NSA or the Pentagon's Cyberwar Command, the North Koreans would still respond, but the response would be muted. They can't afford an all out cyberwar against the US, especially when their first team is limited by the damage to their server farm. But when the North Koreans find out that a civilian was behind this-and eventually they will- their response won't need to be muted."

"Best case scenario is a kidnapping where the hacker spends the rest of his life being tortured in some North Korean hellhole prison until he either dies or is brainwashed into working for the them." Chuck turned pale, swallowing heavily as he envisioned this future for himself. _Helluva poker face you've got there kid_, Casey snarkily thought to himself. "Worst case is a police crime scene that looks like a mugging gone wrong."

"Now, assuming that this hacker already has some security in place-say the CIA's famous Ice Queen…"

"Hey," Chuck angrily interrupted, launching up out of his seat. "I don't ever want to hear that name again! Clear?" He was staring daggers at Casey, willing to get into a fight he was sure to lose.

Sarah, Carina and Casey all stared at this uncharacteristic outburst from Chuck. _Damn, he's got it as bad for Walker as she has for him_, Carina thought to herself. _Heh, the mouse that roared_, Casey internally chuckled. _But there's no faking that. Between Walker practically sitting in the kid's lap, and his fury over her nickname, these two are the real deal. Who would have thunk it?_

Sarah, for her part, was stunned by the outburst. Sure, she had told Chuck that she had always hated the nickname. How she had to act ice cold in order to keep from showing what she really thought, really felt, when she had been carrying out the darker tasks that came with being the CIA Director's Enforcer. When Casey had warned of the North Koreans kidnapping and torturing Chuck he had only looked queasy. But when Casey casually dropped a nickname whispered throughout the intelligence community, albeit a sexist one, Chuck became incensed. Leapt to her defense when she hadn't thought of defending herself from the verbal dig.

Sarah dropped her gun in her lap, resting her hand on his forearm. Everyone but Chuck took note of how he immediately calmed down, visibly relaxing just from her touch. With the tension lessened, Casey spoke up again, "Walker is good, one of the best. Don't get me wrong. But she's one. If you come in, the whole of the NSA will protect you."

Sarah knew that Casey would have made a better sales pitch if he had mentioned the risk of collateral damage to Ellie, Devon or Morgan. Sarah loved that fact about Chuck, that he was so willing to put the interests of others so far ahead of his own. She also knew that Chuck had complete faith in her, and in her abilities. Especially with regard to her ability to protect him. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that she would decimate any threat that came at Chuck.

_But can I fully protect Chuck, while also trying to make sure that nothing bad happened to his family? Can I keep them safe as well as him?_ Sarah knew that she was wavering, but she also knew that with her game face on, neither Casey, Carina nor Chuck would pick up on her doubts. But a glance across the table showed Carina giving her a hard look. Clearly, Carina had picked up on some miniscule tell of Sarah's and knew that something was up. Carina made eye contact with Sarah, then looked from one corner of her eyes to the other, a shake of the head without any movement noticeable to the two men at the table.

As Casey did not have the extra insight of years of working and partying with Sarah that Carina possessed, he was oblivious to the doubt that had started to creep into the back of her head, plaguing her confidence. "I'm going to head out and look at these supposed NSA agents of yours, Walker. See if we can get a little intel on who they really are, how they found out about an off the books meet, and maybe, just maybe, find out what has General Beckman so spooked."

Casey got up from the table, pausing to give a curious look at the waitress who had just approached the table to freshen up their coffees. He then headed out of the back door to find the men whom Walker had incapacitated. He was thinking to himself that with the way she was acting around Bartowski, these unknown men were lucky that she decided to incapacitate rather than decapitate. He was hoping for a little insight into who they were and what they were after.

Once she was sure that Casey was out of earshot, and the waitress was off sorting out other customers, Carina pulled out her cellphone and fired up a custom app to use the phone to search for listening devices. "What was it that Reagan once said? Trust but verify. I don't think that Casey left any surprises, especially after Sarah's greeting, but then again, I thought that what with you being ex-CIA that we were just here to torment Casey. Now I hear about rogue hackers, North Korean assassins. My kinda party," she finished with a smoldering look at Chuck.

As expected, Sarah's reaction was instantaneous. She snatched up the knife in front of her, so angry that it didn't register on her that the knife from the diner might be good for spreading butter, but that was about the extent of its usefulness. Carina was starting to get a wicked grin on her face, when her look changed to shock as Chuck put a hand over Sarah's causing Sarah's rage to instantly vanish.

"Ok, fine. No partying with Chuck, or whatever your name really is," Carina relented. Chuck looked down at the table, blushing slightly. "Oh, my god. It really is your name," Carina barked out with a laugh that she quickly smothered as Sarah's look turned vicious once again. While it would have been fun to spar with Sarah, they probably would wreck the diner. _I wonder if she still holds a grudge from me breaking that stupid goldfish bowl the last time we had a little brawl. Hell, I even made sure that stupid fish lived. You would have thought she would have thanked me_.

"Yes, my name is really Chuck," he admitted. "Well, technically it's Charles, but no one calls me that. Well, my dad did…but…that's, uh…the name's just Chuck."

Chuck's spiraling broke the tension at the table, with Carina chuckling at him and Sarah worrying about Chuck dredging up memories of his father.

Carina, however, had focused her attention squarely on Sarah and switching off the provocateur personality. "Alright Blondie, spill. Casey just lied to his CO. You incapacitated NSA agents who are off the reservation following Casey without sanction. And then you were a breath away from shooting Casey-who you respected in the past. Casey is warning that the North Koreans may try to capture or kill your boy toy here. All the while you are supposedly retired from Graham's shop."

She gave Sarah a hard look, clearly suspecting that she was getting played, "What gives?"

Chuck felt unbalanced by the blink-of-an-eye transformation of Carina from an incorrigible flirt to a seasoned, highly capable agent. He looked at Sarah who didn't seem remotely phased by the whiplash transformation. Sarah disregarded Carina for the moment to turn to Chuck, "I needed someone I trust to help me with Casey, in case he didn't come alone. Unfortunately, given that she is a DEA agent-" Carina boggled at the fact that Sarah, who was normally tighter lipped than the Sphinx, had just blown her cover to some mousy looking, albeit somewhat cuteish civilian "that means that the DEA, or just Carina, will want something from us as well."

Chuck leaned forward across the table towards Carina. Carina was used to guys using this move to cop a peek down her blouse (which was left largely unbuttoned for this very distraction), but she made a mental note of the fact that Chuck's eyes stayed above her neck the entire time. She was surprised that she was a little disappointed by this act of chivalry, as well as a bit jealous over the fact that Walker had this guy in thrall while he was somehow immune to Carina's charms. It seemed there couldn't even be a competition for this guy- and that was a novel, as well as somewhat disheartening, situation.

"My sister is a doctor over at Westside Hospital. The other day she had to cancel dinner plans with Sarah," Carina lost her poker face over the revelation that Sarah was in deeper than just some nerd-fling, that she was actively (and unabashedly) fully involved in this guy's life. "Sarah found me to tell me that the hospital had been locked out of access to its own records, putting the lives of the patients in danger. The hospital IT department had already given up, with the hospital Board scrambling to get the funds to pay the ransom."

"How big," Carina quietly asked.

"$1.5 mil," Chuck answered. "Sarah knew that since I'm a computer guy that I would want to help." Chuck paused his recounting of the story to gaze as Sarah with—regret? "And I needed to help. I did help. It's just…Sarah, nor Ellie for that matter, had no idea how much I would be able to help. I'm not just a computer guy. I used to be a hacker." Sarah cast her eyes down to the table, slowly closing them. "I was known as The Piranha." Carina watched as Sarah let out an exhale, slowly collapsing in a little at the apparently anticipated confession. Carina had no idea who or what The Piranha was supposed to be.

"Sarah got us to the hospital in record time," Chuck continued with a tentative grin towards Sarah, who continued to sit, eyes closed. But as if she could tell his insecurity, Sarah gave him a watery smile in return, with her eyes still closed. "I was able to get into the computer system and free the hospital records from the ransomware attack."

"Quickly," Sarah quietly spoke.

"Quickly," Chuck conceded. He appeared nonplussed at Sarah's dejected composure. "Kind of quick, I guess. But I was angry at whoever would do this. Threaten the sick and elderly just to make an easy buck."

"There's a rumor going around the shadow world that someone trashed the North Koreans. The speculation is on the NSA," Carina acknowledged.

"I didn't know it was the North Koreans at the time," Chuck stated.

"But it wouldn't have mattered," Carina said with absolute certainty, while appraising Chuck carefully.

"No," Chuck admitted, "it wouldn't have mattered. The patients needed medical care, and whoever had done it deserved to be stopped."

Carina leaned back against the booth as she processed what she had just learned. "One point five million bucks," she whistled. She was more surprised at the fact that Walker was in so deep with someone, much less a civilian nerd. _Oh hell. Walker finally falls for a guy, and every government on the planet would want a hacker that good. They would go to great lengths to get him to work for them. And the North Koreans would go to greater lengths to punish him for destroying their cash cow and embarrassing them. Damn, damn, damn_.

Carina didn't want to get out of the great game like her friend had, and it was now clear that she was out and not just operating a cover against this guy. But Carina did want her friend to be happy, especially as Walker was about the only person that Carina could truly call a friend. Sarah's guy now had a big target on his back, all because of the fact that he needed to save the sick and the elderly. _It's a choice that comes with a ton of complications, but you chose well Sarah_.

Chuck continued, unaware of Carina's internal musings, "I was able to trace the source of the attack. Just the IP addresses of the systems involved. I didn't wait to figure out where they were located. It wouldn't have really matter anyway. Back in college, I had programed a really nasty virus-a digital nuclear option of sorts. I had never tested it out, but I knew it would work. I accessed the virus from a secure site where I had stashed on the dark web. Then I shredded the firewall for the servers and platforms responsible for the attack…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Carina interrupted. "You 'shredded' the firewall for the North Korean cyberwar group?"

"Well, yeah," Chuck responded, as if the answer was obvious. He was genuinely confused at the interruption, with complete unspoken confidence in his hacking skills. Sarah couldn't help but to grin a little bit at his utter self-confidence, even as she cringed at the revelations. "Like I said, I didn't realize that it was the North Koreans. But it wouldn't have mattered. So I got through their firewall without much trouble."

"I unleashed the worm, then covered my tracks. But apparently I left a few breadcrumbs that Casey found. Not enough to stick to me in a court of law- but enough to convince Casey that I'm Piranha."

"And now Casey is trying to leverage the threat of the North Koreans," Carina deduced, "to conscript Chuckie into the NSA. Having the Piranha on their team would be quite the win for the NSA."

"Casey demanded that I 'surrender' Chuck to him," Sarah snarled.

Carina rolled her eyes heavenward, "For having feet as big as his, you'd think he'd have a harder time fitting them in his mouth. But he manages to shove them in there on a regular basis. No wonder you were ready to shoot the guy when he walked in here."

"So, what do I get in exchange for keeping Chuck out of the NSA clutches?" Carina baldly demanded.

"It's not just keeping Chuck out of the NSA. Just as importantly, we have to guarantee that Ellie-his sister-stays safe," Sarah demanded.

"Fine, fine," Carina said in a deceptively dismissive manner. "Chuck stays out of the NSA and Doc Ellie stays safe. Got it. Now, what's in it for me?" Carina leaned over the table towards Chuck with a leer.

With Chuck still holding her hand, Sarah didn't rise to the bait this time. With a hard look at Carina, Sarah growled out, "Three Piranha hacks, times and targets of your choosing."

Carina instantly switched off the femme fatal persona, sitting upright once again. "Fine. But as a sign of good faith, I want a hack up front. There's a Venezuelan general who's rumored to be the biggest dealer in all of South America. He's supposed to have a huge shipment heading out in a week, but he uses his troops and military encryption to communicate. If it's as big as I'm told, stopping the shipment could destroy his entire network. I need to know where, when and how he's moving the drugs."

"Deal," Sarah agreed, reaching out to shake Carina's hand. It was an old guarantee between the two. Never welch on a handshake.

"Hey," Chuck exclaimed. "Don't I get any say in this? You know, Piranha over here?"

"No, you don't," Sarah and Carina replied in unison.

Carina grabbed Chuck's laptop and wrote out the name and posting of the drug dealer, identifying what information was known as opposed to what was suspected. Chuck realized that Carina had a razor sharp mind, easily overlooked with her sultry attitude. The amount of information that Carina was able to recall off of the top of her head was scarily impressive, especially considering that she had no advance notice that the quid pro quo would take place.

Sarah minimized the screen, figuring that Casey would be back shortly. A few moments later he returned, grim faced at his discovery. "They were real NSA agents. I've never worked with either of them, but they check out in the database as authentic. Which begs the question: if they weren't sanctioned by the General, what in the hell were they doing following me?"

Sarah cast her gaze sideways, taking in the man beside her. Her gut was telling her that the rogue agents were after Chuck and were hoping that Casey would lead them to him. The situation went from being complicated to a real farrago.

The waitress approached the table again, offering dessert. "The blueberry pie was voted the best in Orange County," she said with a note of pride.

Casey looked at her closely, giving a grunt and stating, "I'll take a slice. A la mode, please." Chuck copied his choice.

As the waitress walked away, Casey got another peculiar look on his face. _Something is up_, Sarah decided. "Is there an issue with the waitress," she demanded, while reaching back under the table to grasp her Smith & Wesson.

Casey gave a quick shake of the head. "No, no, nothing wrong. I've never seen her before. And yet, there's something about her that seems really familiar."

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After Casey left, Carina, Chuck and Sarah got ready to make their way out to the cars stashed out of sight in an alleyway behind the diner. Sarah glanced down at her watch, her eyes growing wide with concern as she realized just how long the meeting had taken.

"C'mon, Chuck. We've got to hurry. Swim lessons," Sarah called out as she vaulted out of the booth.

Chuck's response was immediate, "Let's go!" He was close on her heels as they bolted out of the back door to the diner.

Carina, meanwhile looked on in confusion as the other two sprinted towards Sarah's Porsche. She walked out of the diner exit. _At least he's not dumb enough to try to insist on driving her car. But what did she mean by 'swim lessons'?_ "Hey, is that some sort of nerd code that I need to know about? Wait, are those 'lessons' sex? Is that why you are in such a hurry?!" As Carina had no patience for little things like discretion, people in the next county likely heard her questions.

Sarah's legs locked up and she skidded to a halt as she processed what Carina had called out. Chuck wasn't as graceful. At the word sex, he had tumbled over his own feet and pitched forward with his long arms comically wind-milling away in a futile attempt to save himself before crashing to the ground.

"Don't respond," Sarah ordered, marching towards the driver's door. "And for God's sake, don't make eye contact with her. We really need to go have se…swim lessons. With Molly. Swim lessons with Molly. While, um, swimming." She shook her hair in frustration at becoming so flustered.

Chuck, who had gotten up and brushed himself off, was opening the passenger door when Sarah spoke. He then proceeded to slam the door into his face at Sarah's verbal stumble. They both strapped on their seatbelts and stared forward as Sarah drove off. The awkward silence inside the car was practically deafening.

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A/N 2: The story was starting to get a little action oriented, so next chapter brings back our favorite 4 year old, and another familiar face from canon joins the mix.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11 Swim Lessons

A/N: As promised, more Molly-and more uncomfortable moments for both Chuck and Sarah; then another familiar face enters the picture. This chapter had a lot of significant revisions, right up to the last moment, so hopefully it all makes sense.

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When they pulled up to the parking lot of the East Valley YMCA in North Hollywood, all thoughts of the elephant in the car were pushed aside as they both spotted Emma on the sidewalk attempting to calm a meltdown in progress from Molly. They both rushed over to see what was wrong.

"Mom, what's happening? Is she ok?" Sarah asked, concern for Molly clear on her face.

"Hi, you two. Molly here was ok until she got out of the car. She's a little nervous about going back into the water. And she was more nervous without having Chuck here to help her." Emma cast a look of regret towards Chuck, wanting him to know that she wasn't trying to throw him under the bus for her daughter's meltdown.

Sarah knelt down and opened her arms for a hug from Molly, who quickly raced to her big sister to wrap her up in a tight hug. Molly's screaming and tears stopped as she started hiccupping while trying to calm herself from the intense fear she had from going back in the water without having Chuck and Sarah around.

Chuck, meanwhile, approached Emma, "I didn't realize that she was that shaken up from the Pier. Maybe we should postpone this, or find someone to help her talk through her fears before we get her in the pool."

Emma gave Chuck a loving smile, "You are a good man. I think that she just worked herself up about this. She had been ok on the way over here. She really wanted you to be here, and didn't start to freak out until she didn't see Sarah's car in the parking lot."

Chuck ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "I'm so sorry. There was a…work thing that took longer than we had thought. Ah, I promised Molly I'd be here and then she thinks I'm not coming? Not cool, Chuck. Not cool."

Emma's smile grew broader, "Most people wouldn't drop everything to show up for a swim lesson for a 4 year old. You are here, barely late even. Don't beat yourself up. Besides, you're not even family." Emma broke eye contact before murmuring to herself, "Yet."

Chuck, distracted by his worry over Molly, missed out on the tail end of Emma's comment. Instead, he knelt down to get on eye level with Molly, "I'm really sorry that I was late Molly. But Sarah and I are here now. And I'm really looking forward to our swim lesson."

It was Sarah's turn to beam at Chuck, and how he had changed a swim lesson for Molly into a joint activity including him. "So, Ms. Molly, now that Chuck's here to, what say we head in so that you can start class?" Molly grabbed Sarah's hand, before turning to grab Chuck's as well. The three of them started walking towards the front door, with Emma wiping a tear from her cheek as she brought up the rear carrying bags with towels and changes of clothing for the three in front of her.

From the front lobby, they could see through to the pool, already busy with people swimming laps and children running around. Molly seemed to shrink back a bit once she saw the size of the pool.

"Don't worry Molly," Sarah assured her. "Chuck and I are going to be with you the whole time." Molly let out a tentative smile at the reassurance. "Besides, Chuck here is so freakishly tall that if he were standing in the deep end, he would still be able to reach all the way up to the surface." Sarah made a silly face at Molly, with the tip of her tongue jutting out from her teeth.

Molly started giggling as Chuck sputtered in mock indignation. He then stood to his full height and stretched his arms to the ceiling. He made a production of looking back and forth from his feet to the tips of his fingers, before looking at Molly and shrugging with a chagrined look.

"Alright you two," Chuck called out. "Enough making fun of Chuck. We're all signed in. Let's get changed and I'll meet you two ladies out by the pool. Ok?"

Sarah and Molly each grabbed a bag from Emma and headed towards the women's locker room, while Chuck grabbed his bag and made for the men's locker room. He was changed and waiting by the side of the pool where the lessons were scheduled to start when he caught sight of Molly heading across the pool deck.

"Hey there Ms. Molly. You ready to do this," he asked while pretending to psych himself up for a big event. Molly covered her mouth as she started giggling at Chuck's antics. Chuck then spied Sarah crossing the deck to join them. His brain immediately stopped working.

Chuck had on board shorts, but also a nerdy T-shirt. Clearly he was ready to get in the pool if that was what it would take to get Molly to feel safe in the water again. Butterflies once again settled in Sarah's belly as she took in his appearance. The butterflies had intensified when Chuck looked up, a broad smile lighting up his face when he had spotted Molly, calling out to her without noticing Sarah. Sarah had to fight off a smirk when she saw the moment he saw her. His eyes tracked down to her toes as his jaw went slack. For a brief moment, Sarah was worried that she had left the tags on the suit, or some similar wardrobe issue.

Chuck's eyes started track back up her legs, but he seemed to come to his senses when his eyes got back up to her waist. His eyes suddenly darted back up to her eyes, as if he was afraid that he would start ogling her if he looked below her chin. _Nice to know that I've still got it-and that Chuck knows it_. She was used to guys giving her the once (or twice) over when she was in a bathing suit, but Chuck wasn't ogling her. It was more a look of awe. And it was quite good for her ego.

This was especially true considering the fact that she was wearing a one piece that she had bought when she and Emma had first decided on getting Molly swim lessons. At that point, Sarah hadn't expected for Chuck to be there with them. By now, it would seem weird for her not to include Chuck in a family activity. A lot had developed in their relationship in a short time. _And I couldn't be happier. Well, apart from a surly NSA agent and the North Koreans both being out to get my guy._

Chuck realized that he was staring at Sarah and had to put a stop to it. _Oh, man. How is it even possible that she looks that amazing in a bathing suit? I need to stop staring at her. Crap, how am I going to be able to concentrate on Molly's swim lessons when Sarah is nearby looking like that? Ok, ok. Just focus on her eyes, not her bathing suit. Wait, wait. I'll probably drown if I do that. I get lost looking into those eyes on a regular basis. How am I going to remember how to breathe much less swim if I'm focused on her eyes? Ok, let's just get the lesson started. Try focusing on Molly as much as possible. Don't freak out_.

Sarah smirked as she watched Chuck working so hard to be a proper gentleman, to treat Sarah with the respect that she didn't get while with the CIA. _He's just too good to be true. Having some guy ogle me usually makes me want to throw up, but I kind of like it when Chuck looks at me like he is amazed at what he sees. I should probably go easy on him…Nah, let's have a little fun_.

Sarah walked up, gathering Molly and their towels to head over to the lifeguard who was signaling for the class to start. As she passed Chuck's shoulder, she stated in a quiet voice, "I bought a white string bikini for our next trip to Coronado, but I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to wear it here at the Y." She leaned in, brushing her lips against his ear as she whispered "Play your cards right and you'll be seeing me in a whole lot less than that."

She could feel Chuck tense beside her. Wondering if she had pushed things too far, she slid her head over so that they were practically nose to nose. She let out a light, playful laugh as she took in the wide eyed look on Chuck's face. If this was one of Chuck's comic books...graphic novels...steam would be shooting out of his ears right now.

Chuck cleared his throat before softly speaking, "yeah, um, I'm going to need a minute here" She gave him a not-so-subtle wink as she walked away. Sarah worked hard at not laughing out loud at Chuck's eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head.

Sarah took Molly by the hand and sauntered to the far side of the pool. Chuck decided that he really liked it when Sarah sauntered. A lot.

Chuck stood on the pool deck rooted to his spot, his brain rebooting itself. _I'm going to need a minute. Make that two minutes_. After getting himself under control, Chuck headed over to where Sarah and Molly were meeting with the lifeguard who was to give the lesson. Sarah noted how Chuck constantly deferred to the advice of the lifeguard, even though she knew that he knew as much if not more about water safety. Molly quickly overcame her reluctance (with a lot of participation from Chuck), and after the half hour lesson was up Molly decided that she and Chuck were going to stay in the pool to "practice". Emma sat in a nearby chair, closely watching the goings-on and typing out a text message on her cellphone.

After the swim lesson ended, Molly and Chuck were splashing in the pool, her earlier fear of the water completely forgotten thanks to Chuck. Sarah decided to thank Chuck by surprising him with an annual membership. She reassured herself that the fact that she was able to fill out all his biographical data from memory wasn't because she was a stalker. It was merely...properly vetting someone who would be around Molly. Hopefully a lot.

After all, it was normal for a woman to buy a present for the man who she was dating exclusively. It felt almost normal. She knew that between her unusual childhood and her decade in servitude to the CIA that she would never be completely normal, but even this glimpse of normalcy was a gift from Chuck that he had no idea that he'd given her.

Sarah had gathered up towels for Molly and Chuck and was watching their antics in the pool with a big grin. An older woman walking by paused next to Sarah to watch Chuck and Molly as well, "I remember when my daughter was that age, just as rambunctious. Now her daughter is even older than that. You have a lovely family my dear, you should cherish these moments. They go by too fast." She gave Sarah a quick pat on the arm, then headed off towards the locker room.

The woman looked back to see Sarah staring at the pool like a deer in headlights. Recognizing that Sarah was momentarily lost in her own head, the woman looked over to the chairs by the poolside, shot Emma a quick thumbs up, and headed off without anyone else the wiser. Emma tucked her phone back in her purse so that the evidence of what she had done wasn't out in the open at least.

Sarah, in the meantime, was stunned. The stranger had thought that Molly was Sarah and Chuck's daughter. It made sense from the outside perspective. Molly bore a passing resemblance to Sarah, and clearly adored Chuck. Sarah's issue was that she'd never thought about children of her own, one of the reasons why she had sought out her mother to raise Molly. But now that the thought was in her head, she realized that she really wanted a family of her own-as long as Chuck was the dad.

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Chuck and Sarah approached an upscale ranch style house in a suburban neighborhood. To Chuck it appeared as a normal house, just like the others around it. Sarah spotted the fiber optic cameras and laser grid that covered every access. The windows were blast proof and the door was reinforced. As the saying went, there were bold spies, and there were old spies, but there were no old bold spies.

"Ah Agent Walker," Roan Montgomery warmly greeted Sarah as he threw open his front door.

"Agent Montgomery, it's just Sarah now," Sarah responded demurely, as Roan ushered them through his house to the pool deck in the backyard. She made no comment about their need to step over multiple empty gin bottles along the way.

"So, the rumors are true. Graham must be disappointed to no longer have the service of his top field agent." Roan's gaze on Sarah was unflinching, questioning.

"It was time for us to part ways." There was no hesitation, no regret in Sarah's declaration.

"Yes. I had heard something about a mission in Budapest and a dead agent in charge." Chuck paled, turning to look at Sarah. Sarah maintained her discrete smile as she kept eye contact with Roan.

"He must have looked at one of those Eastern European mob bosses wrong. You know how sensitive those types are."

Roan gave a Mona Lisa smile. "Indeed, my dear. Indeed I do. Although I had warned Langston for years about Ryker. Not so much a risk of being a traitor, more so a risk of being mercenary. I doubt that many at the Agency mourned the loss of Kieran Ryker. My dear you were an exceptional agent. But you lacked the cynicism necessary to truly excel in our occupation for the long term."

Sarah remained silent, waiting for Roan to move on to other, more pertinent topics. She needed to get Roan on board and quickly, as she didn't trust Casey, nor his boss for that matter, to be patient when it came to their search for The Piranha.

Roan likewise waited, curious as to what brought the infamous Sarah Walker to his home. But she was just as patient, revealing nothing. It was finally Roan that made the next move in the verbal chess match. "You have come here with…" Roan's eyebrows lifted as he took in Chuck who was wandering nearby. "A civilian," Roan resumed when Sarah still offered no clues. "I assume that you need something other than help in booking a table at Spago. They've let themselves go somewhat, resting on laurels of days past, if you ask me."

"You are just still upset they stopped carrying your favorite brand of gin," Sarah countered.

Roan shook his head gently from side to side before letting out a Cheshire cat grin, "It is an unforgivable sin not to have that on hand."

"I had heard that General Beckman trusts you," Sarah began, finally breaking down and getting to the point of their visit. "And we need to convince her to not try to conscript my boyfriend."

Roan winced again. "Boyfriend? Monogamy is such an outdated concept. My heart aches for you my dear. "

"I'm just fine with monogamy. And so is Chuck," Sarah turned to looked fondly at Chuck. Her gaze softening as she watched his unstudied movements, his lack of pretention.

"Well, Agen...Sarah. I must disabuse you of a part of your proposal. Diane Beckman does not trust me." Roan strode over to an outdoor wet bar, mumbling about medieval concept of monogamy ruining a successful Cold War spy team. "Diane does not trust anyone, sometimes not even herself. Are you certain that the NSA is interested in Charles?"

"John Casey ordered me to surrender Chuck to him."

Roan chuckled while shaking his head. "Major Casey always did have the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And dare I ask what your response was to this entreaty?"

Sarah looked away with a grimace, "Let's just say that he was put on notice that his team would be wise to have their life insurance policies paid up before making any such attempt."

Roan laughed out loud, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Why do I suspect that your response was worded slightly differently. I trust that Major Casey was wise enough to take heed of your advice?"

"He and I had a meeting, along with Chuck and DEA Agent Carina Miller."

Roan smiled fondly before taking a long sip from his martini glass. "Ah, Agent Miller. She always has been so..."

"Unique?"

Roan smiled again. "Flexible. But unique fits for her as well." Sarah looked queasy at the implication.

Sarah decided the best course of action was to start talking before Roan could make another comment about Carina. "Casey said that the North Koreans were behind the ransom ware attack, and that Chuck destroyed their hardware. Apparently they are quite upset. After restoring access to patient records, Chuck sent a worm..."

"Excuse me?" Roan looked out to where Chuck stood scrolling through something on his phone.

"A worm. It's a hidden computer program that..."

"My dear, I have been slapped in more languages than that prodigious mind of yours knows," Roan shifted his view from Chuck to Sarah, giving her the most droll look that he had in his repertoire, "but I do not speak geek."

"Nerd," Sarah responded out of reflex.

Roan looked as though he had just swallowed a lemon whole before gently shaking his head. "Why? Why on earth would you know such a distinction?""

"Casey also acknowledged that the NSA can't prove that Chuck was responsible," Sarah resumed, unwilling to let her mission get sidetracked by Montgomery's idiosyncrasies. "So we've got that going for us."

Roan was quiet for a moment, processing all that he had been told. "Age-Sarah, you are likely thinking of getting Charles appointed as an outside contractor to the NSA?"

Sarah nodded, curious to hear Roan's thoughts.

"I have a better plan. The NSA hires a company. Charles does cryptanalysis while you handle security. That way you can keep an eye on your...boyfriend, to ensure that the NSA follows the rules. Plus you wouldn't have to explain to the police if you are called on to use force."

"Let me talk to Charles, and then Diane. She may not trust me, but she will listen to me. I will need to see Charles in action on the computer. This can be arranged, yes?"

"Chuck has agreed to help Carina. You can be there as well."

Sarah walked out to where Chuck stood. "Roan is onboard. But you need to speak with him. Let him see who Chuck Bartowski is. Just be you." Sarah gave him a chaste kiss and then a gentle push in Roan's direction.

"Ah, the bewitching Agent Walker, her beauty has left many a man in thrall," Roan proclaimed without looking up from the pitcher he was using to mix his martinis.

"Sarah has not put me under some spell. And her looks are not the reason why I love her." Chuck wasn't sure what Agent Montgomery's point was, but he wasn't about to start objectifying the woman he loved.

"Ah, my boy, love is the most powerful magic there is. Tell me, if it came down to a choice of you or her, would you choose to live or would you die for her?" Roan didn't have to tell Chuck that this question would make or break whether Montgomery decided to assist the couple or not. But that didn't matter to Chuck.

"I would do whatever it takes to make sure that Sarah would live." There was no hesitation, no uncertainty in Chuck's declaration. Sarah was far more open than the woman whom Roan had met while with the CIA, but he could tell that she was in love with Charles Bartowski. Charles, Roan instantly knew, was completely in love with Sarah Walker.

"Amor vincit omnia. Love conquers all. Fortunately for you, Ms. Walker feels the same for you. You are a good man, Charles, and you are worthy of Sarah's love. That is not something that I say lightly. But we can use that mutual devotion. The establishment wants you, or at least your skills, but they fear the Ice Queen/Wildcard Enforcer." Roan noted how Chuck's eyes and nostrils flared at the monikers bestowed on Sarah by jealous lesser agents at the CIA.

"Major Casey and I will let the powers that be know that if anything happens to you, the Wildcard will let Carthage burn. And if anything happens to Ms. Walker, the Piranha will do the same. The intelligence agencies need money, and lots of it, which means they need Congress. But if all of their deeply buried mistakes- lost secrets, dead agents, dead civilians, stolen/ misappropriated funds-were to see the light of day, it would make the Church Commission seem tame in comparison. And for all of their bluster, they fear that oversight, the repercussions of their mistakes. Trust me, Charles, once someone has been in this business long enough, mistakes are always made."

"Now, if you would be so kind, please gather up Ms. Walker so that we can contact the NSA and put my plan into action. After that, I need to get ready for my date tonight." Roan let out a satisfied sigh, "Twins." Chuck hustled off to get Sarah before Roan made him any more uncomfortable.

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In his bespoke suit and Costa Del Mar sunglasses, Roan Montgomery stood out as he strolled down the Burbank sidewalk towards his destination. The car he was looking for was on time and waiting in the proper spot.

"Major Casey," Roan greeted him, with a suave bob of his perfectly coiffed hair.

"Agent Montgomery," Casey grumbled back, clearly unhappy with the negotiator that Chuck and Sarah had selected for this off the books meeting with Casey's boss.

"Major, it is things like attachments to antiques such as this…vehicle that helped you fail Seduction School, twice," Roan said, ignoring the less than pleasant greeting from the NSA agent. "Well, that and your partner at the time was too attractive for me to pass. I should have failed the two of you a third time."

"Ugh, should have known it was something like that," Casey muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Now, aside from any nostalgia for police drama from the 80s, is there any particular reason why we are meeting here?" Roan inquired.

"General Beckman wants this meeting kept quiet, discreet. That meant no NSA facilities or known safe houses. This 'antique' as you insultingly call Betty, has a built in heads up display that allows for videoconferencing, with special coating on the bulletproof windows to prevent anyone on the outside from seeing the display."

"Ah, I see," Roan responded. "Very clever. Lacking in any flair or sense of style. But clever nonetheless. One would expect, however, that the NSA would have all of the latest and greatest toys."

"I'm glad that you give your qualified approval Roan," General Beckman said as her image was suddenly projected across the windshield."

"Hello, Diane," Roan countered in his smoothest voice. "My approval is qualified in a number of subjects." He gave a slight twitch of his eyebrows, and Casey was almost sure that Beckman blushed in response. She subtly moved a hand to brush back her hair to reassure herself that it was properly styled. Casey bit back a lip curling grunt of nausea over Beckman's distracted state.

"Before we get to the topic at hand, namely Mr. Bartowski's employment status," Roan continued, "Major Casey and I were just discussing his vehicle here. A 1985 Crown Victoria I believe?" Casey gave a terse nod in response. "Ah," Roan continued, "1985 was a VERY good year. Wouldn't you agree Diane?"

Casey had to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat over the comment and the suggestive look that Roan sent Beckman's way. Clearly there was some truth to the rumors that the two had been involved when both were field agents in Berlin at the height of the Cold War.

General Beckman's cheeks blushed slightly at the less than subtle reminder of their shared past, "Major Casey provided the car himself and requisition the latest and greatest toys, as you put it, to be installed in it. You will have to ask him why he chose that particular vehicle. I am, however, curious about your reference to the 'employment status' of Mr. Bartowski."

Roan smiled internally. If Beckman had anything resembling a scrap of evidence against Charles, she would have responded with bombast and bluster, not a polite inquiry. Clearly, she desperately wanted Charles to work for the NSA. Roan was well acquainted with Diane's tells when it came to her desperately wanting something.

"The situation, as I understand it," Roan replied, "stands thusly: the North Koreans decided to hold a hospital hostage in order to generate some hard currency; in the middle of what had been a successful cyberattack, it suddenly fails; the NSA is convinced that the counterattack against the North Koreans originated on site at the hospital; the NSA is further convinced that no one on the hospital staff was capable of such a sophisticated feat; so the NSA has concluded that Charles was most likely the person with the skills and motivation to be the reluctant hero of the day."

Roan looked from Casey beside him to the projected image of Diane Beckman, raising his eyebrows as if to ask whether there was any fault in his summary. Beckman's face turned sour, "Correct" came her terse reply. Casey stayed silent, realizing this conversation was above his pay grade even though the NSA's beliefs regarding Bartowski were based on his own.

Roan's visage switched to a debonair smile, "The NSA doesn't have the proof to charge Charles with any cybercrimes associated with the counterattack. The hope of a conviction would be far from guaranteed as an argument could be made that any legal violations were justifiable in light of the imminent threat of death and serious harm to any number of patients at the hospital." Beckman slumped back in her chair, her rigid posture crumbling in the face of Roan's accurate summary. "Assuming, for the point of argument alone naturally, that Charles was the hacker behind the counterattack, any-shall we say-less than legal tactics that the NSA could theoretically employ would be complicated by the presence of Ms. Walker in Charles' life."

"Let me personally assure you-having spent some time in their joint company and individually-that the feelings between the two are quite mutual and refreshingly genuine. I can also assure you that Ms. Walker's reputation while with the Agency was more than deserved. As the melodramatic nickname of the Ice Queen-which I am convinced she privately despises- indicates, she is quite capable of either turning off or tuning out her emotions in order to accomplish her mission. Further, her track record for successful missions was rivaled only by when Frost herself was at the CIA." Beckman grew rigid at the praise, and the message behind it.

"But, just as with Agent Frost, her intelligence was as notable as her accomplishments, if often overlooked due to her looks. Towards the end of her career, Agent Walker typically operated alone, reporting directly, and only, to Director Graham himself. Prior to that, her partners had either showed that they were not capable of keeping up and were left behind, or they messed up so badly that Agent Walker was called upon to improvise in order to make it out alive. Her improvisations were so skillful that she clearly not only made it out alive, but in all but her last mission, made it out after completing the mission in full. She would also bring out the other agent, who Director Graham would often then assign to desk duty for the remainder of their CIA career."

"So, if the NSA were to attempt to use, shall we say, extrajudicial methods to coerce Charles's cooperation, they would first need to get past Ms. Walker. And let me tell you, Diane, I have seen Sarah with Charles. Her infamous dedication to accomplishing her mission, when merely an assignment from her boss, pales in comparison to her motivation to protecting Charles. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the only thing that would prevent Ms. Walker from declaring open warfare on the NSA would, ironically enough, be Charles himself."

Roan paused momentarily to gather his thoughts before proceeding, "Now, the NSA could choose to try to take Ms. Walker off of the board before targeting Charles. This would be a foolish mistake for three reasons. First, while Charles has a charmingly white knight quality about him, he is just as dedicated to Ms. Walker as she is to he. He could call upon his…theoretical, of course…computer skills to make life hell for the NSA. Second, Charles would likely place himself in harm's way to protect Ms. Walker, and get himself killed in the process of the NSA attempting to capture him alive. Third, the CIA would not take kindly to an interservice rival being responsible for the death of one of their living legends. A CIA/NSA turf war would result in incalculable damage to our Republic. Not to mention to the classified budgets of both agencies."

By this point, General Beckman had her elbows on the desk in front of her with her hands on her head. Finally, she looked up, re-establishing eye contact with Roan over the videoconference link, "You raise some valid points. But I know you Roan. You have another card hidden up that sleeve of yours."

Roan smiled broadly in response. "Ah, Diane. That was one time. Thirty years ago mind you. And if you will recall, I had suggested the game be strip poker which would have eliminated sleeves altogether."

"Oh dear God. Kill me now," Casey groaned out, looking ill-while simultaneously reminding the other two to his presence.

"Now," Roan said after clearing his throat and bringing his thoughts from memory lane to the present, "as things stand, it turns out that Charles is a very honorable man. He is…amenable to working with the NSA as an outside contractor. On a strictly part time basis. If we are to believe that he possesses the skills that the NSA is already convinced that he has, if he is the individual who managed to free the hospital servers while destroying the responsible North Korean ones, he would be able to accomplish a great deal on a part time basis."

"Charles would also be available for emergencies, national security level emergencies to be approved on a case by case basis by Ms. Walker. After all, she still possesses the necessary security clearances. What I propose is that a company be formed-Charles has proposed the name Carmichael Industries, I did not ask why- which shall employ Charles and Sarah. The NSA can outsource select projects to CI, and it provides a cover for our couple."

"If the NSA so chose, it could set up a covert substation, leasing office space from Carmichael Industries. That way Charles would have direct access to the NSA database, or, if discretion called for it, could operate from Carmichael Industries in order to allow for plausible deniability. Ms. Walker could man the fort in order to receive mission specifics beforehand, as well as contribute after-action reports that the bean counters in your Agency so admire. The NSA could, obviously, maintain an agent on site as well at either the substation or as another employee of Carmichael Industries."

"This plan would provide sufficient cover and security to keep Ms. Walker satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied. There would be adequate hardware for Mr. Bartowski to render his services. The NSA would get the services that it covets without the risks of attempting to acquire them by force. And Mr. Bartowski would be able to continue to promote his gaming company, adding further to the appearance of legitimacy for the cover to Carmichael Industries."

"Sure, we get him on a part time basis, with a CIA agent as the final arbiter of what constitutes national security emergencies," Beckman grumbled. She was clearly unhappy with not getting everything that she wanted. Roan waited her out, watching as Beckman's shrewd mind calculated the risks/rewards of each possible scenario.

"We will be in touch," Beckman finally stated, jamming the disconnect button with her thumb.

Roan turned to Casey with a satisfied smile, "I think that went well. You?"

Casey was still grumbling incoherently as Roan exited the car, buttoned up his suit jacket and sauntered back down the sidewalk in search of a proper martini. He was convinced that the purported 'perfect' martini was nothing more than an urban legend, but he considered it his duty to find out one way or the other.

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A/N 2: The next chapter, which still needs tweaking, is rather short, but the one after that is exceeding long. I'm going to try to level things out. We get a little bit of Piranha showing his chops, and more of Emma teasing Sarah. The fluff is coming.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12 The Hunt for Red October

A/N: I shuffled some parts around to even out the chapter length, with the added bonus of having Emma and Molly torture Sarah in this chapter instead of waiting for the next installment.

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Carina entered the room, uniquely able to appear to be sauntering and moving quickly. "Alright, Chuckie, why don't you show me what has Walker here all hot and bothered," she said while blatantly checking him out from head to toe and ending with a wind.

"Ex-excuse me?" Chuck stammered out, clearly uncomfortable with both Carina's comment and her overt ogling.

"Carina," Sarah managed to growl out from between tightly clenched teeth.

"Relax, Sarah. I was just talking about his computer skills," Carina replied with her most practiced innocent look. Sarah didn't buy it for a second. "I'm calling in my first marker for a Piranha hack-that Venezuelan general." Turning to the fourth person in the room, Carina called out, "Hiya, Roan."

With a suave dip of the head that Chuck desperately wished he could emulate, Roan smiled demurely, "Agent Miller, I see that you have perfected your shock and awe approach. Impressive."

Carina returned the dip of the head, making Chuck wonder if he was the only one in the room without the debonair gene. Carina then spun to focus on Sarah, and unspoken question floating between them.

"It's okay," Sarah responded to the silent inquiry. She was still upset with herself for taking Carina's bait with the flirting towards Chuck. But he was her guy, and no one was going to threaten that. "Roan met with Casey and Beckman. He wanted the chance to see Chuck's computer skills first hand."

"Fair enough," Carina said, completely businesslike now that she knew that she was getting what she needed. "I've received word that my Venezuelan General Ramirez is going to be sending a large shipment within the next day or two. But still nothing on how, what or where. But Ramirez has a lot on this line with this shipment. We bust this one and his house of cards collapses."

Chuck reviewed the notes from the prior discussion with Carina. He soaked in all of the biographical data that she had on the Venezuelan general, as well as what he could glean online. He then fired up his computer and got to work.

"While I can handle a basic conversation in Spanish, these communications will be a far cry from interpreting the menu of the local Mexican restaurant," Chuck said while giving Sarah a quick eyebrow dance. Carina's eyes bulged as Sarah revealed a slight, but genuine, blush. "But these communications will be far from ordinary. Plus, the same word used in LA might mean something totally different in Caracas. For that matter, the slang in Caracas might be completely different from the slang in El Dorado."

Sarah rested a hand on Chuck's shoulder, "Don't worry about that part. You get us in, I can handle the translations."

Chuck turned to look at her, his visage a combination of respect, awe and love. Sarah shifted her hand from his shoulder to run her fingers through the curls on the back of his head, completely tuning out the presence of Roan and Carina.

"So far gone," Carina mumbled to Roan, looking at her friend as if Sarah had just grown a second head.

"Yes, indeed he is," Roan responded, equally quietly. Carina spun to look at Roan before turning her attention to the curly haired nerd doing his thing on the computer. A moment later she nodded her head in concurrence.

Chuck finally broke eye contact with Sarah and focused on the monitor. "Okay, let's see what we've got here. Interesting. Very interesting. In addition to his official email, General Ramirez has emails from a different address stored on an encrypted folder on his desktop."

Chuck's fingers flew across the keyboard, a blur of activity that was too fast to follow with the eye. He would pause from time to time, often accompanied by incoherent grumbling, before resuming his furious typing. "Okay, Sarah. I've copied and downloaded all of the emails onto a secure cloud server based in the Seychelles. Just in case anyone else goes looking for breadcrumbs. We can now take our time looking over the emails to see what is there. I'll put them up on this monitor as they are decrypted. In the meantime, I'll just tweak the logs on the Venezuelan military server to make it look as though no one was ever here."

"Damn, Bartowski," Carina said as she let out a low whistle. "Got into a government system, located and decrypted all of these emails that fast? I'm starting to see why Walker here is getting all hot and bothered by those fingers of yours. Maybe I should find myself a geek to play with."

"Nerd," Sarah automatically, and sternly, responded. She kept her eyes focused on the emails displayed before her.

"Hmm," Carina said, looking quite like the cat that ate the canary. "I noticed that you corrected me on the part about the geek and not the part about being all hot and bothered."

Sarah froze momentarily before responding, "Let's keep our eyes on the prize here Carina."

"Oh, I am," Carina gleefully answered, while nodding to the emails on the screen. "You just keep your eyes on the emails and not your 'prize'." Chuck's ears turned a vibrant red as he logged into a different computer system.

A minute later, Sarah broke the silence. "Here we go. The package to be delivered to the kilo today at 13:30 hours. That's odd," she muttered almost to herself. "The message clearly states 'the', so kilo is being used as an object not as a measurement."

Silence descended over the room as each person thought through the linguistic puzzle. "Just spitballing here, but didn't the Soviet Union have a class of submarines referred to as Kilos?"

"Pray tell, Mr. Bartowski," Roan inquired, "how is it that you are familiar with Soviet era submarines?" The question was asked without animosity, merely curiosity.

"'Hunt for Red October'," Chuck replied. "Loved the movie, loved the book even more. When we were kids, Morgan found an old text based video game at a yard sale. The graphics were pretty rudimentary, but good for those days. Can't even begin to guess how many hours we spent playing that one. Of course, it would have been cooler in Jonesey had been kicked out of Stanford rather than CalTech, but it was still cool."

Sarah didn't even try to hide her proud grin as she looked at Chuck. Such a brilliant mind with such an unassuming personality. Something about him rendered her spy shields useless. _He is, _she thought privately_, like my own kryptonite. I'm powerless against him. Except that Superman hated kryptonite, while I can't get enough of Chuck_.

Roan and Carina both shared a surprised look at this brilliant burst of insight. While Chuck came across as retiring, he was incredibly skilled with computers, and a bona fide genius to boot. _No wonder why Diane is so eager to get him on board, _Roan concluded_. If she knew half as much as what I've just witnessed, she be thrilled with what he can contribute, even on a part time basis_. But Roan also knew that the intelligence game was a meat grinder. With Chuck's inherent good nature, he would be destroyed by the system, while being manipulated into compromising his ideals at every turn. But his good nature, affability, and willingness to risk himself to save the sick and elderly made Roan and Carina fall victim to the same siren song as Sarah of the need to protect Chuck Bartowski.

"So, Mr. Bartowski, given your extensive…videogame research into the platform, what is the displacement and the size of a skeleton crew for the Kilo class submarine? If you do not have the information on hand, if you would be so kind as to use your prodigious computer skills to look it up? I believe that everyone here will acknowledge your superiority in that area," Roan requested deferentially.

"I don't think of it as superiority," Chuck mumbled as he set to the task assigned.

"Good God," Roan exclaimed privately to Carina. "The man can't even do false modesty. He wouldn't last a second in the field." He turned to look at Sarah, who had been discretely listening in the whole time. "You need to see to it Agent…Ms. Walker, that any agreement with the NSA is strictly kept as a consultant-analyst. Keep him out of the field."

Realizing that Chuck, too, had started listening in, Roan spoke to him, "Don't be offended Charles. Your skills with a computer are beyond impressive. But computer skills do not a field agent make." Roan then tilted his head to the side while considering Chuck, stating sardonically, "How is it that you can waltz through Venezuelan military security in the blink of an eye, but public domain information takes you this long?"

Chuck momentarily bristled at the dismissive tone from Agent Montgomery. Sarah had convinced Roan to help with the NSA, and Chuck was convinced that with anything remotely connected to the world of espionage, he would defer to Sarah. Unless her safety was on the line. There was no way that he would stay in a proverbial car if she were in danger.

"I had that information a while ago," Chuck calmly replied. "I've been going through the records of the Venezuelan military to find out if their Navy bought any old Russian subs, and, if so, the designation. If it's a Kilo, it's either Russian or Soviet, and there's a good chance that the Navy has it's acoustic signature in their database. That would mean that we could use the Navy's SOSUS system to try to locate her." Given the way that Sarah started running her fingers through the curls on the back of his head as he explained his activity in a cool, professional tone, he figured that she approved. Given the way that Sarah continued to run her fingers through the curls on the back of his head, Chuck became momentarily distracted and lost sight of what he was doing.

"Ahem," Carina said loudly after noticing the cursor idly blinking in the same spot for a bit. Sarah and Chuck both jumped a bit, each startled from their own private thoughts about Sarah's fixation with Chuck's curls. "If we could focus on the task at hand, rather than what Walker's hands are doing to your head, I've got a sub to catch."

"So," Roan jumped in before Carina could make a risqué comment about Chuck's head and Sarah's hands, "assuming that our suppositions are correct, what are odds that the sub (a) bears the flag of Venezuela in order to prevent a boarding-which would be seen as an act of war by an imperial aggressor, and all that malarkey Agent Miller; or, (b) has no marking for plausible deniability if it were to be caught smuggling narcotics?"

"Couldn't the Coast Guard board the vessel for a general health and safety check?" Chuck jumped in.

Roan turned to him with an impressed expression. "Very good, Charles. But for the Coast Guard to do a health and safety check, the submarine would need to be within three nautical miles of the US coast. A yacht or sport fishing boat could venture out well beyond such a range. And the sub could make several such drops in order to minimize the chance of the full load being captured."

"Stopping one drop of drugs is meaningless," Carina snarled. "Oh, don't go all Boy Scout on me Bartowski. I need to stop Ramirez. I get him, we stop dozens or even hundreds of such shipments."

While Chuck still took issue with stopping a drop as being 'meaningless', he recognized that there was a bigger picture at play. He also recognized that this ad hoc team he was on needed for him to pinpoint the location of the sub. Realizing this, he set to work.

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Sarah shuffled into her mother's house, still bleary-eyed from the very late night session of watching Chuck sit at a computer console and access information and resources that ought not to be accessible to a civilian. It shouldn't have been possible for him sitting at a desk in Echo Park to be able to pinpoint the location of a Soviet era submarine under the command of a drug smuggler masquerading as a Venezuelan military leader.

But Chuck had done just that. He had traced the sale of the sub to identify its designation, hacked into Pentagon archives to find its acoustic signature, then ran that through the SOSUS net. He had located the sub creeping around the western tip of Cuba. Through the encrypted messages to and from Ramirez, he had determined that the sub was headed to meet a small freighter near the port of Corpus Christi, Texas. The freighter was in bound from Baltimore, Maryland, so it wouldn't go through a rigorous customs check on its cargo.

Sarah thought back to the events of the previous evening. Carina had made a videoconference call (with Chuck disguising the point of origin of the conference) with her supervisors at the DEA. She had then dashed off to Bob Hope Airport to catch a DEA jet which would take her to a Coast Guard helicopter waiting for her in Fort Worth, Texas to get her to Corpus Christi. She would personally oversee the takedown. If successful, lots of people would share in the credit- just not Chuck. And he was fine with that.

Thanks to the information that Chuck had supplied Carina, the US Navy had dispatched the hunter/killer submarine USS Arkansas under the command of Cpt. Matt Johnstone to follow the Kilo sub once it cleared Cuban waters. The Navy was blissfully unaware that its own system had been largely responsible for Chuck being able to pinpoint the sub's location. Their focus was on the fact that a foreign country was trying to invade US waters. Captain Johnstone had privately been given authority to sink the sub if there was any indication that the DEA was wrong about its role to smuggle drugs.

Shortly after Carina had fled the scene, Roan too made his farewells. He had given Sarah a brief nod, "A pleasure as always Ms. Walker." Roan had then turned to Chuck to shake his hand, "Well done, Charles. Well done."

Sarah had walked Roan to the empty courtyard outside of Chuck's apartment. He paused by the quietly bubbling fountain, giving a nod in the direction of Chuck's window. "That is a rather extraordinary young man you have there, Sarah. And he also happens to be quite good with computers. What do you say you and I make sure that he stays safe, hmm?" He had then disappeared through the archway.

By the time all was said and done, Sarah was too tired to go back to her room at Maison 23. She had walked back into Chuck's bedroom, pulled a pair of boxers and a t-shirt with the graphic of a floppy disk reading My Entire Life before turning to go to the bathroom to change.

As she got to the door, Chuck called out in a teasing tone, "What? You're not going to even ask my permission to borrow my clothes?"

Sarah didn't break stride, calling back over her shoulder as she departed, "Nope" while popping the p sound at the end. She could see the start of a huge grin spreading across Chuck's face. As she went to close the door to the bathroom behind her, she added, "And who said anything about borrowing?" Closing the bathroom door, she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror and was pleased to see a grin just as large as the one on Chuck's face. Maybe bigger. She thought back to what Carina had whispered to Roan. _Yep, I am done. And I couldn't be happier about it_.

Although she would have been far happier staying snuggled deep under the covers with Chuck, Sarah had gotten up just a few hours later to head back to her mom's house. When she had woken up, the pull to stay in bed with Chuck had been nearly overwhelming in its intensity, and was shocking that it was there at all. Despite her dalliances with Bryce and a handful of other men over the years, Sarah had made a strict rule of sleeping alone. As an agent, she was vulnerable when asleep-even with the CIA training on how to prepare for any threat even when asleep.

But there hadn't been any hesitation in deciding to stay the night with Chuck. It felt like the most natural choice. Chuck had fallen asleep quickly, exhausted from the events of the hunt for the Venezuelan submarine. Sarah had watched him slumber for a minute or two before she too fell asleep, more content than she could ever remember being.

But now, in her mother's kitchen, she was wishing that she was back in Chuck's bedroom in Echo Park. She discovered that she profoundly regretted not getting to experience waking up along with Chuck, wrapped in each other's arms. She had slid out of his embrace without waking him. She found herself daydreaming about what it would have been like to start the day with Chuck.

As Emma made her way down the stairs, she saw her older daughter seated at the breakfast nook with a grin from ear to ear. With a raised eyebrow, Emma took in Sarah's appearance: tousled hair, rumpled clothes that appeared to have been yesterday's wardrobe. Not speaking, Emma crossed the kitchen to pull a mug from the cabinet to get herself some morning coffee.

Over the rim of her mug of coffee, Emma made eye contact with Sarah, but stayed silent. Sarah narrowed her eyes in response, suspicious as to what her mom was up to. Emma then placed her mug on the table before picking up her cellphone and making a production out of scrolling through her contacts.

After a few moments of silence, Sarah caved. Her mother was up to something, but Sarah had no clue as to what it was. "Something that I can help you with there, Mom?"

Emma kept an innocent expression on her face, "No, dear. I'm just looking for a number."

Still lost as to what her mother's game was, but sure that a game was afoot, Sarah continued, "Whose number would that be?"

Emma paused for a moment, as if she were actually deliberating. Sarah reached for her cup of coffee, raising it to her lips. _Perfect_. "The minister's. I want to see if there is going to be any wait to book the church for your wedding."

Coffee sprayed from Sarah's mouth in shock over her mother's pronouncement. "We-wed-wedding?" She asked in a much louder voice than intended. Emma had to reach back to grab a hold of the countertop from laughing so hard.

Just then Molly popped around the corner, "Who's getting married?" Sarah's mouth kept opening and closing with no sound coming out. Emma had to wipe away tears, she was laughing so hard.

"No one, dear. Though your timing was impeccable. I was just teasing your sister."

Sarah was starting to recover, and attempted to glower at her mother although her heart wasn't in it.

"Ooh," Molly called out excitedly, "is it to Chuck? That would be sooo awesome. He would be my brother. And-and -and Ellie would be our sister!" By now Molly was bouncing in place with excitement, her pigtails flying through the air. "We'd be one big family. And we could do birthdays, and Thanksgiving and Christmas together!"

By now both Sarah and Emma were staring slack jawed at the little girl's enthusiasm. Emma was faster than Sarah to recover, "I take it that you would approve of the union, then?"

Molly looked confused at "union".

"Wedding. You would like to see Chuck and Sarah get married?" Emma asked through giggles.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Molly danced about the kitchen again, hands in the air in celebration.

Emma rounded on Sarah. "Don't freak out."

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Sarah was still feeling rattled hours later when she and Chuck met up again. He brought up the breaking news on his tablet about the DEA-Navy seizure of a former Russian submarine that was filled with tons of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The speculation was that the sub belonged to Venezuela-which denied it as imperial propaganda aimed at overthrowing the people's government.

There had been international outrage, as General Ramirez hadn't ordered the removal of the torpedoes from the launch tubes before using the sub to enter US territorial waters to meet with the freighter. There had been domestic outrage in Venezuela over their loss of such an important, and expensive, military platform. There had been less public outrage among the drug cartels over the loss of a massive shipment, as well as the lost opportunity to use the sub for future smuggling operations.

Sarah looked up from the story at Chuck, "The hero again. This time you know, I know, Carina knows and Roan knows. Unfortunately, your sister and the American people still can't know." She affected a look of deep thought, "I'll have to make your anonymous hero status up to you somehow." She grabbed his wrist, yanking him towards his bedroom.

"Who's your mommaaaaa…" Chuck called out before the door to his bedroom slammed shut.

Two hours later when they decided to take a break, Chuck tried to tease Sarah, "What would your mother say?"

"Oh, she already offered to call the minister for us," Sarah replied with a straight face, neglecting to tell Chuck about her own reaction to her mother's comments.

Chuck proceeded to fall out of the bed and onto the floor. Red faced with embarrassment in the face of Sarah's giggling fit, Chuck asked, "Wait. Is your mom a fan of White Christmas?"

Sarah looked at Chuck as though he had grown a second head, "What does Christmas have to do with this?"

"You know, the movie? Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye dancing and singing in the Christmas classic? White Christmas. Ellie and I watch it every year. A Bartowski Christmas tradition. Well, that and the Twilight Zone marathon, but you're not ready for The Zone yet."

"You've lost me," Sarah admitted. She'd heard of Bing Crosby, but as far as she knew a white Christmas involved snow-not something to be found in Southern California.

"Ok, we are going to have to watch that. And soon. It's a Christmas (duh) musical movie," Chuck said, getting visibly excited over the prospect. "It's just you don't hear 'minister' used that often anymore. One of the songs in White Christmas is 'Mandy', which talks about having a minister handy."

Chuck closed his eyes and began singing acapella, "Mandy there's a minister handy. And it sure would be dandy, if we'd let him make a fee. So don't you linger, here's the ring for your finger, isn't it a humdinger. Come along and let the wedding chimes bring happy times for Mandy and me." Chuck's rich baritone filled his bedroom as Sarah's jaw dropped open. _Damn if that's not sexy. And those lyrics are giving me thoughts that I shouldn't be having_. She wanted to hear him sing more, lots more- even if it was about rings and weddings. But later. Much later.

Chuck opened his eyes and looked at Sarah curiously, "Why are you looking at me like..." Sarah proceeded to yank the bedsheet over both of their heads. "Who's your mmph"

Chuck realized quickly that now was not the time for talking. Lips were better used for things like kissing...

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A/N2: Sorry Joe Watkins, I understand that you and David maybe debating the greatest Christmas movie of all time, but hands down it's White Christmas. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, George Clooney's aunt.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13 A White Christmas in Los Angeles

A/N: Posting a little later than planned. Had to travel for a family event over the weekend. Another trip is planned for this weekend. We are entering the final stretch. The ending of the story is somewhat open, so I could revisit the story in the future. At this time, there are no plans to do so.

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Sarah sat at the edge of the fountain in the courtyard outside of Chuck's apartment. She was idly tracing patterns in the water with her fingertips. She was looking without really seeing, as she tried to wrap her head around all of the emotions swirling through her heart. Chuck had headed out to meet up with Morgan- who suddenly had been saddled with much of the responsibility at Nerd HQ, even though he didn't, and couldn't (to Chuck's regret) know why.

How do you tell a man-child civilian that his best friend: is an elite hacker who single-handedly saved Westside Hospital; attacked the foreign military group responsible; got the NSA hunting for him; negotiationed with the NSA to keep him in Burbank; and, helped a DEA agent capture a Venezuelan drug sub when it tried to enter US waters?

But she had to give credit to Morgan-Chuck said that he needed some spare time, Morgan asked no questions and got the work done. Truth be told, Sarah was a little envious of the close bond between Chuck and Morgan. She had Carina. But their friendship had a …dynamic to it that often resulted in nightclubs advising that they wouldn't seek reimbursement for repairs if the two of them agreed to never again enter the premises.

Sarah had seen the potential for a more traditional close friendship with Ellie. But now there had been the double-whammy of Sarah admitting to her CIA past to Ellie and Chuck hinting to her at his skills as a hacker. Sarah was working hard at keeping Chuck out of the NSA and in Burbank. If Chuck had to leave Burbank, Sarah would follow, but that would split the Bartowski family. And Sarah was not ok with that.

Sarah heard the door to the apartment close and realized the source of her most recent musing was standing behind her.

"So, Devon was encouraged that Chuck," Ellie raised both hands to make air quotes, "'got back on his bike and went for a ride.' His saying, not mine." Ellie was trying, and mostly succeeding, at smothering her laughter at Sarah's discomfort.

"Oh, my god," Sarah mumbled in embarrassment. "I am so sorry. I totally forgot that you and Devon were even home."

"That's great!" Ellie exclaimed, before clarifying. "I don't mean that it's great that I had to hear what I won't be able to unhear coming from my brother." Ellie gave an exaggerated shudder that wasn't wholly faked. "I mean that it is great that you lost yourself in the moment. Well, moments. Actually, given the amount of time involved, should it even be referred to as a 'moment'?" Ellie asked as she titled her head to the right.

"Ellie!" Sarah yelped, playfully smacking Ellie on the arm. "Stop. Please. Seriously. For both of our sakes."

"Hey, you should be grateful that I stopped Devon. He was going to make you both one of his protein shakes so that you kids could keep your energy up," Ellie teasingly admonished. "What's great is that given your…past work, that you were comfortable enough around Chuck to allow yourself to get lost in the moment. Maybe, going forward that is, you just limit the number of times that you get 'lost' when Devon and I were around? Please?"

Ellie collapsed in a fit of laughter as the dusting of pink embarrassment on Sarah's cheeks escalated to a vibrant red.

"Well, maybe if you had warned me about what an amazing singer Chuck is, I would have be able to control myself and limit the number of 'bike rides'," Sarah retorted, expecting Ellie to appreciate her going along with the joke. But as soon as Sarah mentioned singing, Ellie abruptly stopped laughing and her eyes grew wide.

"Wait," Ellie exclaimed, "wait, wait. You are telling me that Chuck, as in my brother Chuck, sang to you? Seriously? Please tell me that you aren't joking or making some Devon- like sex analogy? Chuck really sang again?"

Sarah could read the hope and expectation on Ellie's face. This was a serious question from her. That made absolutely no sense. Chuck had an amazing voice. Ellie's excitement would make sense given how good he was. Then Sarah parsed the words "sang again" which indicated that he used to sing, but then stopped. Why would someone with such a gift just stop? Unless…Sarah's eyes narrowed, growing hard and cold.

"Jill." It was a statement, not a question. The Ice Queen had just materialized in front of Ellie.

"Holy crap. You are seriously scary when you talk like that," Ellie said quietly.

Sarah struggled internally to regain control. _What in the hell did that wretched woman do to my Chuck to hurt him so badly that he would stop singing?_ Sarah breathed hard through her nose to try to reel in her anger.

"Maybe I should pay a visit to Jill Roberts. Extract her side of the story," Sarah said once she thought that she had her temper under control.

Ellie just looked at her skeptically, "I don't even want to know just how you would 'extract' a story from someone, particularly Jill."

Sarah's anger cracked in the face of the Bartowski sibling sarcasm. _Okay, maybe my temper wasn't totally under control_. "I could just ask her, you know?"

Ellie simply snorted in disbelief, "You don't even buy that, Sweetie. How do you expect me to?"

Sarah was suffused with warmth and happiness at the term of endearment from Ellie. _These Bartowskis are made of stern stuff. She knows that I was CIA, that I was at the very least dangerous, even if she doesn't know the full deadly extent of that danger. Yet she feels perfectly safe in my presence_.

"Besides," Ellie continued. "Chuck just found you. It wouldn't be fair to Chuck to make him wait for you to get out of jail for murdering Jill."

"You know," Sarah replied in a conversational tone, "it's really hard to convict for murder when they can't find a body."

"TMI there Sarah," Ellie laughed. "I'm pretty sure that I would be more comfortable discussing your and Chuck's sex life…robust sex life…really, really robust sex life…"

"Ellie," Sarah cried in mortification, her fury over Jill forgotten. For now.

"Fine. Fine," Ellie laughed good naturedly. "Since you don't want to talk about your sex life, and I don't want to learn how you could make Jill disappear, tell me more about Chuck singing. What did he sing to you?"

"Well, we were talking about something that my mom said to me and Chuck mentioned some movie called 'White Christmas'…"

"Oh my gosh," Ellie exclaimed. "Some movie? You've never seen 'White Christmas'? We are doing a joint family movie night to watch that! You will bring Emma and Molly- she needs to see the movie too-, and Chuck, Devon and I can host a dinner & movie night."

Sarah raised her eyebrows while looking expectantly at Ellie, saying nothing.

"Uuuugh," Ellie groaned out in mock mortification. "Fine. Morgan can come too. But I'm not calling it a 'joint' family movie night if the bearded gnome is there."

"Fair enough," Sarah replied with a chuckle and a smug grin.

Ellie moved past Sarah to sit next to her on the edge of the fountain. "White Christmas has so many great songs. Which one did he sing to you? And please, please don't say Choreography."

Ellie was bending down to sit when Sarah replied, "Mandy". Sarah watched in shock as Ellie missed the fountain, thumping down hard to the ground. "Ellie, are you ok?"

"Chuck sang 'Mandy' to you?" Ellie asked in a quiet voice, before changing her tone. "Damn, that sex must have been amazing."

"Ok," Sarah stated drolly, "I get that we are friends apart from the fact that I am dating your brother, but we are so NOT having that conversation."

"Sorry," Ellie said while laughing, before wincing as she rose to sit on the side of the fountain. "I don't need, nor want for that matter, any details on my brother's sex life. But Sarah, that song is about marriage. And not obtusely about marriage. 'There's a minister handy.' That's just…wow. Since, um, that woman, he hadn't even made it to a second date until you. And now not only does he sing, but it's a song about marriage. Just wow." Ellie stared at the sky without focusing, amazed by the developments and Chuck's growth since meeting Ellie's incredible new friend.

"In fairness to your brother," Sarah pointed out, "my mom had teased me this morning about showing up to breakfast in yesterday's clothes and with bed head." Sarah held up a hand to forestall Ellie, who was twitching with excitement. "Last night wasn't about that. It was…work related. But mom didn't know that, can't know that. And Chuck and I can't tell you about it either."

Ellie's face reflected her concern, "This has to do with what went down at the hospital. Doesn't it?"

Sarah wavered on how much she could tell Ellie. Sarah would protect Chuck, but Ellie would need something to keep her from spiraling like her brother. The problem was, Ellie was so smart that too much information could result in Ellie getting in nearly as much trouble as Chuck.

"It does and it doesn't," Sarah finally compromised. "I promise that I will protect Chuck. I do have some old work friends helping out with that protection." _For you too_. "But both Chuck and I are going to be helping out the government from time to time. Not out in the field, but we still won't be able to give you details. Okay?"

"I trust you, Sarah," Ellie genuinely stated. Like her brother the statement was made in full certainty. "And I trust you with Chuck's safety." Sarah wasn't the most tactile of people, but she needed to hug Ellie after that statement.

Ellie stood after the hug. "I also trust you with my brother's heart." Sarah's jaw dropped open. Again, absolute sincerity and certainty rang through Ellie's tone. But as Ellie got to the doorway and grabbed the door handle, she turned with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "For as long as you both shall live."

It was Sarah's turn to slip off of the fountain and onto the courtyard. _Oh god, not her too_.

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A few days later, Sarah strolled into the Nerd HQ office, with a wide smile breaking out as soon as she spotted her favorite nerd. Chuck was thoroughly engrossed in coding the next, next big game for their company. It wasn't until a three ring binder hit the desk next to his keyboard that he realized that Sarah had entered the office.

"Sarah," he called out as a grin as big as her own appeared. Sarah genuinely loved the fact that every single time that Chuck saw her his reaction was the same, as if seeing her was the highlight of his day. "Is it weird for me to say that I missed you today? I mean, it's only noon, but I've gotten so used to you being here that it felt strange to be alone."

"Well, sweetie, you are the most social creature that I know," Sarah replied, running her fingers through his hair, causing him to hum. She was thrilled to hear Chuck admitting that he missed her even though they had been on a date only the night before. "It makes sense that you are happy to have someone to talk to."

"Nope," Chuck shut down her claim. "Not someone. I'm pretty sure that I am this happy because it is you that I get to see."

"Just pretty sure," Sarah responded with a fake pout. "I must be doing something wrong."

"Impossible," Chuck answered. "Aside from ignoring every driving rule in the State of California, you do nothing wrong."

Sarah picked up the binder to gently bat Chuck on the shoulder. "If I had let you drive on our first date, we'd still be on the 405." She rolled her eyes, but her ever-present smile diminished the impact. "I bring news. Agent Montgomery—"

"Roan."

And there it was. The Bartowski Rule. If someone does them a favor, that person is a friend who deserves personal recognition, not official titles.

"Roan," Sarah acknowledged, making Chuck smile all that much harder. "Roan sold the NSA on the plan not only to hire you as an outside contractor, but for the two of us to create Carmichael Industries and work together for this company. No field work. I get final say on whether or not we accept an assignment. I will help put together information on each target, and prepare the after action reports. You will work your computer magic, while I protect you. In this binder are three sites for you to choose from to base CI."

Sarah paused for a moment before finishing what she had to tell. "General Beckman did have one proviso. One that I'm not really thrilled about. She wants there to be a second business on site, one that is an NSA cover so that John Casey can be stationed here. She claims that she is concerned that the North Koreans could try to get to you. As an active agent, Casey would have greater latitude on what actions he can take without the fear of local law enforcement."

"I don't have that latitude, as a former CIA agent. But I have far greater motivation to

keep you safe."

"Well," Chuck said as he shut the binder closed without looking at any of the properties, "I won't be considering any of these properties."

Sarah cocked her head to the side as she tried to riddle out why Chuck was going to be difficult. They had gotten all that they wanted from the NSA, and far more than Sarah had expected. _Why is Chuck going to be belligerent now_?

Chuck then pulled a non-resistant Sarah down to sit on his lap. "WE. We will consider these properties. And we will decide which one works best. Together. The NSA has to realize that it's both or nothing."

Sarah quickly wrapped Chuck in a hug. It wasn't a bone crushing hug like Ellie's, but it was close. "Together," Sarah whispered, deciding that it was her new favorite word.

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After deciding that if they were to make any decisions, she would need to move to her own chair, Sarah went through the binder to go over the pros/cons of each property.

"Oh man!" Chuck spouted as he saw the photos of the third property. "Look at those windows, and that view."

Sarah beamed. She had deliberated kept this one until last, convinced that it would be the one that Chuck wanted. "I had a feeling that you would like this one best. It's actually a dual use property. The offices in the pictures are on the second floor of a private hangar at Bob Hope International Airport. It would be easy to partion the space into two 'separate' businesses. The ground floor hangar space not only would allow the NSA to discreetly send and recover rapid reaction teams, but there would still be plenty of room for a secure computer room."

"Plus," Chuck jumped in, clearly excited at the prospect, "since it's on the grounds of the airport, no one would be surprised at the bandwidth flowing into the building. Most, if not all, of the businesses already there use a ton of bandwidth. From time to time the Buy More gets a call for help from those businesses. We would blend in. Well, CI would blend in. You, my dear, definitely stand out wherever you go."

"And, and," Chuck excitedly added, "when we take a break from the Nerd HQ games and cloak and dagger NSA stuff, we can watch planes take off and land full of people heading off on or coming back from adventures around the world."

Sarah stroked the back of her fingers down Chuck's cheek, "You are a hopeless romantic. But you are my hopeless romantic." With that statement, Chuck again broke out the grin that he saved just for her. As always happened when she was confronted by that grin, butterflies began dancing in Sarah's belly.

"Besides," Sarah continued, trying not to get distracted-again-by how special Chuck made her feel on a daily basis, "I have literally been around the world, but Burbank is the only place that has ever felt like home to me."

"And you call me a romantic," Chuck pretended to scoff. He leaned over to give Sarah a kiss. The butterflies in Sarah's stomach switched from dancing to forming a mosh pit. What he did next sent the moshing butterflies into overdrive. [singing] "I've been around the world, lookin' for my baby, been around the world, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna find him."

Sarah barely fought down the urge to rip off Chuck's clothes and make it clear what his singing did to her. Through sheer force of will power, she instead raised her eyebrows, "You calling me baby, Chuck?" She had hoped to sound somewhat intimidating, but it came out breathless.

Chuck, however, looked a little nervous. After all, they had never discussed what pet names were/were not acceptable. "Actually, that was a woman singing that part. So really, it would be me pretending to be you who was calling me baby."

As Sarah worked her way through the linguistic gymnastics of that line of reasoning, Chuck's eyes lit up. Sarah's eyes narrowed in response. Chuck might not know it, but he was dangerously close to lighting a fuse on a powder keg of lust. "I've got it," he called out. [singing] "One Saturday I took a walk to Zipperhead. I met a girl there and she almost knocked me dead. Punk Rock Girl. Please look at me. Punk Rock Girl. What do you see? Let's travel round the world. Just you and me Punk Rock Girl."

Sarah narrowed her eyes down to the point the slits were so close together Chuck wasn't sure that she could still see. She then whipped out her cellphone and started pounding out a text message. Chuck felt a bit lost. He had thought it was a fun game to play, where he would sing some lyrics about world travel. But Sarah didn't look like she was playing a game.

"Uh, sweetie? Who are you texting?" Chuck tentatively asked, hoping that he could figure out a way to defuse the situation that he hadn't seen coming.

"The leasing agent," Sarah spat out while glaring at her phone. "We are supposed to meet him at the hangar at Bob Hope in an hour. We're going to be late."

Chuck was even more confused by her response. "But, Sarah, the airport is like twenty minutes away. Well, twenty minutes for normal people. You can probably get there in ten."

Sarah spun in her chair to look at Chuck. The look she gave him reminded him of a National Geographic special where a Thompson's Gazelle had accidentally gotten itself trapped on the Savannah by a hungry lioness. Chuck had a feeling that he was about to be devoured. He also had a feeling that, while he might not survive, he was going to enjoy it. "We're going to need more than an hour for what I'm going to do to you. And then you are going to need a new outfit. That one isn't going to survive."

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Two hours later, Chuck and Sarah had the paperwork signed for the acquisition of the property by Carmichael Industries. When they had first arrived, Chuck had looked around curiously before breaking out his tablet and searching for something. Sarah was a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten to see Chuck ooh and aah over the office space windows that faced the runways. But she was curious about what had Chuck so occupied. If it was national security urgent, he would have shared with her, so Sarah was fine with waiting him out.

Shortly afterwards, Casey showed up to assess the property for himself. He and Sarah conferred over where best to put the computer systems that would be linked to Fort Meade for full access to NSA files. Ultimately, they agreed on creating a false wall in the hangar directly below Casey's office space, and then creating the sole access to/from the systems-which Casey mysteriously referred to as Castle- by means of a hidden elevator in Casey's workspace.

While Casey had worked on a joint NSA-CIA project where he and Walker had remotely collaborated, this marked the first time that he had really seen former Agent Walker in operation. _The CIA really screwed up letting someone as talented as her get away. But then the CIA always manages to screw things up_. Interservice rivalry was alive and well within Major John Casey.

Once he and Sarah had a general plan of action in place for remodeling the office space in order to accommodate the special needs of their mission, they headed over to where Chuck was still absorbed in working on his tablet.

"Ah," Chuck said as he heard the footsteps approach, and realized that Sarah had intended for him to hear her. He was fairly certain that both she and Casey could silent slip into or out of any space they chose. "Major Casey-

"Just Casey is fine."

Chuck pulled up a bit short with that. He figured that was about as personable as the gruff NSA agent was likely to act. "Good. Casey. While you two were doing whatever secret agent stuff you two were doing, I created the cover business for the NSA. I present to you, Blackbird Avionics! Pretty cool, huh? The graphics are the best I could manage on this tablet, but I've got the company set up with the State Division of Corporations, and I've set up websites for both businesses, with company logos."

Casey merely sneered at the hard work Chuck had done. "Whatever." Succinct as always, he headed off to a far corner to call in his report to General Beckman.

"Don't worry. Grumpy is Casey's default setting," Sarah assured him. "I think the websites look great." Casey started heading back over towards them. Sarah continued, addressing both men. "We need to be sure that the cover is going to hold up. We are going to roll Chuck's existing company—"

"Our existing company, madame COO," Chuck gently corrected.

With another beaming smile for Chuck, Sarah corrected herself, "Roll our existing company, Nerd HQ in as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carmichael. Blackbird Avionics will also be a wholly owned subsidiary, however, we will have distinct office space. That way the cover civilian operations will take place at Carmichael, while the classified work will take place within Blackbird. Casey, I will defer to you on what security measures you want in order to restrict access to Blackbird Avionics."

"However," Sarah sternly said towards Casey, "we will do whatever it takes to ensure that the work that Chuck and I do with the NSA stays deep undercover. I will not jeopardize his safety. Are we clear?"

Casey broke out yet another sneer, "We're clear. Although if you and Bartowski get any deeper 'undercover', you might as well change your name to Bartowski." Casey then dismissively walked away, leaving a bug-eyed Chuck Bartowski behind.

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A/N2: And there you have it, a straight transition from Lisa Stansfield to The Dead Milkmen. Thanks to all who are reading. Additional thanks to those dropping a review to let me know their thoughts on this little story.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch. 14 MOVIE NIGHT

A/N: To make up for the late posting, this chapter is slightly longer than normal. It also explains the origins of the name of the NSA cover business.

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Ellie was true to her word and quickly set up a movie night so that everyone could watch White Christmas. Sarah discovered that Ellie was a force of nature when it came to planning a social event- and evidently, having Sarah, Molly and Emma over for dinner and a movie qualified in her books as a social event. There was a scheduled start time (after Ellie checked with both Sarah and Emma as to Molly's bedtime), with an emphasis that "fashionably late" would not be an excuse for tardiness.

Sure enough, everyone was assembled at the designated time at the Bartowski residence (although Sarah was fairly certain that she heard Ellie say that she would pluck out Morgan's beard if he so much as thought of the word mistletoe). Ellie had set up a hot chocolate station with marshmallows (both regular and mini), whipped cream, cinnamon and cocoa powder. There were candycanes and strands of popcorn decorating the room. It made Sarah wish that she had had a normal childhood. Until a thought brought her up short. Ellie and Chuck didn't have anything remotely close to a normal childhood. They had achieved these Christmas traditions through sheer force of will.

Chuck inserted the 4K disc of the movie. Sarah made a mental note to never, ever ask a nerd why the 4K version was necessary for a movie filmed in 1954. Suddenly, Molly asked why Mr. Casey wasn't there for the dinner/movie.

(Two weeks earlier)

Never having been a parent, Sarah's last exposure to pre-kindergarten had been when she had proudly matriculated to kindergarten to be with the "big kids". As a result, she had forgotten the fact that such classrooms were little more than a civilian version of a bio-weapons laboratory. Germ warfare was the major area of study for the "students", with fingerpainting and pasta noodle crafts a distant second and third.

Emma had been off on a day trip to Napa when Sarah had gotten the call from school that Molly had a fever and needed to be taken home- now. When Sarah had entered the classroom, she observed controlled pandemonium. Well, more of contained pandemonium. Entry to the classroom required the permission from one of the two adult teachers. This meant that the chaos was limited to the classroom.

The kids all seemed to be either running or screaming, or, for the apparently advanced students in the class, both running and screaming. Runny noses were everywhere. Sarah watched as one child sneezed all over a toy, which was promptly thrown into the bin only to be snatched up by another child before the toy could be decontaminated.

Molly, though, was seated quietly in a corner. Her cheeks, normally pink with exertion, were pallid. Her eyelids were clearly struggling to even stay open. Sarah ignored the madness and made a beeline for her sister. The volume of noise in the room dying away as the children realized that there was a new adult in the room.

"Molly, sweetie, how are you doing?" Sarah asked as she sat down on the bench designed for a child.

"Hey Sarah," Molly responded with a wan smile. Sarah took note of the fact that Molly didn't immediately give the typical rundown of the day's interactions. That was always first on Molly's agenda: who had done what, as well as who was/wasn't her best friend for the day. On its own, that absence would have created concern for Sarah.

"Let's get your stuff together and head out," Sarah said, patting Molly on the knee. "Since Mom is up in Napa, you and I will be heading to the Carmichael building to keep an eye on Chuck."

The name of Molly's favorite person perked her up a little, getting her motivated enough to stand up and strap on her backpack. Sarah never quite understood the need for the backpack. It was nearly as big as Molly, but only held a sweater, her lunch box and a spill proof water cup. As they made their way out to the parking lot, Sarah reflected that it sometimes paid to have a friend in the DEA. Once Sarah had told Carina that her mom was adopting (not all secrets needed to be shared even among friends), Carina had "discovered" a Porsche Cayenne S that Emma could buy from a DEA auction. Due to a convenient typo on the listed mileage, Emma wound up being the sole bidder.

While Sarah still preferred driving her 911 GTS, if she had to drive an SUV in order to pick up Molly, at least she could be in an SUV with performance. There was no way that she would be caught dead in a soccer mom minivan. Emma had naturally objected (before learning the price), and had waxed on about the convenience of hands-free sliding doors and built in entertainment systems.

But, when Sarah had pulled up to Emma's house in the Cayenne (operating on the maxim that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission), Emma had relented. Emma's protests had died away completely once she learned the purchase price. Shortly after that, Sarah discovered that while her driving skills had been perfected by the CIA, it turned out that genes played a big role as well.

Not surprisingly, in spite of the typical LA traffic in between Molly's preschool and Chuck's office, Sarah made it in good time. Sarah carried Molly's backpack over one shoulder, using her other hand to hold hands with the little girl. As they walked into Carmichael Industries, Chuck jumped up from his desk in excitement, "Hey there, Moll." Chuck's eyes grew wide as two of his favorite ladies entered the offices. "Moll!" Putting on his best, although still not very good, James Cagney impersonation, Chuck then said, "You some kinda gangster's moll there little lady?"

Sarah and Molly looked at Chuck, both tilted their heads in unison, before looking at each other with matching expressions of "you have any clue what he's talking about this time". Still moving in perfect synchronicity, they shrugged and sat down, pretending as though Chuck hadn't even spoken. Chuck shook his head in disappointment and slipped down the hall.

Sarah grabbed a couple of throw pillows (still tempted to throw them at Chuck's head

after she bought them for him and he went on a rant about useless pillows that you're not even allowed to throw-honestly it had been worse that his debate with Morgan over sandwiches on a deserted island) and cobbled together a makeshift bed for Molly on the sofa in Chuck's office.

Molly belatedly took note of the Christmas decorations that Chuck had put up- "good for the cover" he'd said at the time in the face of an irate John Casey- in his office and the outer room. The office now sported miniature pre-wired Christmas trees (which both played and swayed to music by TransSiberian Orchestra), as well as imitation pine garlands wound with tinsel. It wasn't even Thanksgiving, but Chuck was clearly embracing the Christmas spirit. It served as a reminder that Ellie's "White Christmas" dinner party was scheduled for the night of Black Friday.

Suddenly, a section of the wall to Chuck's office swung open with John Casey charging in. "Bartowksi, where in the he…" Casey's diatribe cut off mid-stream as he took note of both Molly's presence and her pale complexion. "Ms. Molly," he grunted out, "you ok there kid? You seem a little worse for wear."

Molly ignored the question, instead looking from Casey to the open wall, and back again. "Mr. Casey, howdya get the wall to move like that? Ooh, can you do magic like Hermione, Ron and Harry? Hermione is, like, my favoritest wizard in, like, ever. Are you a wizard Mr. Casey?" Although run down, some of Molly's listlessness had disappeared during her interrogation of Casey.

Casey turned to Sarah with, what passed for him, a pure look of terror. The man clearly had no idea about Harry Potter and his world of wizards, muggles and magical creatures. Molly had seen the first movie on tv a few days earlier and had instantly become obsessed with Hermione Granger. Emma had already bought the first book, and Molly insisted on it as her nightly bedtime story. Sarah worked hard to fight off a smile. She and Casey had been working on an unspoken truce since the creation of Carmichael Industries.

She recognized that a truce was in place when Casey had wired up Echo Park with state of the art surveillance for the perimeter and the courtyard. He had even moved into a unit there, showing Sarah the surveillance monitors (no cameras in Chuck's apartment thankfully), as well as his armory on site.

"Molly, hon, Mr. Casey isn't a wizard. This all used to be one big office space and this wall between Carmichael and Blackbird used to be a door. That's all," Sarah assured her sister.

"But if I'm a muggle and Mr. Casey is a wizard, he wouldn't be able to tell me, would he?" Molly snarked, before letting out a yawn and laying back down on the sofa.

"She's got you there, Casey. If you actually are a wizard, you wouldn't be able to tell us muggles, would you? Statute of secrecy and all that," Sarah asked with as straight a face as she could manage. She could see him struggling to make any sense of what she and Molly had just said. Casey looked at Molly for a moment before turning to sneer and growl at Walker. The kid was mocking him, somehow, but kids were to be protected-not intimidated. Unfortunately, Sarah just smiled as Casey unleashed his fiercest growl towards her. _Damn CIA skirts_.

Finally, Casey gave up, opting to find Chuck. "Walker, where is Bartowski? He's supposed to be…uh, giving me a report on some…data that he is collecting."

"He's still collecting, big guy. Just like he told you an hour ago," Chuck called out as he walked into the room with a delivery bag from a nearby restaurant. "The information won't be rendered for another 42 minutes. Just like I told you an hour ago. So, I ran out to get Ms. Molly here some of the best chicken noodle soup in the world. Or at least in Burbank." Chuck gently ran a hand over Molly's head, smoothing down her hair as she lay on the sofa on the verge of a nap. Sarah couldn't help but to step over and hug Chuck from behind as he showed such care and affection for her little sister.

"Ugh, lady feelings," Casey snarled. "Meet me in Cast…in my office in 10 Bartowski." That said, he spun and stormed back out of the Carmichael offices, slamming the wall closed behind him.

Molly let out a fierce sneeze as she struggled momentarily to sit up to eat the soup. She turned to Chuck, her eyes wide with concern, "I'm sorry Chuck. I hope I didn't just get you sick." Molly looked even more miserable at the prospect than she did at being sick herself.

Chuck, for his part, simiply let out a good natured laugh. "No worries, Molly. When you live with a doctor, you get the full panel of flu vaccines the moment they come out each year." He leaned in close to Molly and in a stage whisper said, "I hate needles. Like really, really hate needles. Needles and me are no bueno."

Molly giggled at Chuck's antics and butchering of the Spanish language. _He does have a way with women. Or at least women in the Walker family_, Sarah mused. _Hopefully for my sake, the latter_. She didn't feel the need for any competition. Molly sat up a bit, "So, does that mean that when you and Sarah get married she'll get the flu shots right away too?"

Chuck and Sarah's eyes went wide as saucers. Sarah's jaw dropped open in sheer mortification, while Chuck's kept opening and closing with no sound coming out. After a moment, Chuck regained the power of speech. Sort of. "Wha…uh, what…um. You know what? I bet Casey is ready for that data now. I'd better go. Now. I'd better go now."

Sarah gave Chuck a look of complete betrayal. "Traitor," she yelled with a laugh at Chuck's retreating form. Sarah didn't know what was freaking her out more: the fact that Molly would ask such a question, or the complete conviction in Molly's tone that Sarah and Chuck would be married. Or maybe it was over the fact that it didn't sound so bad. Sarah swallowed hard. _Married_.

Chuck slowed his pace as he went out of the door for Carmichael Industries before taking a few steps down the hall to Blackbird Avionics. The two business occupied the entire combination hangar/commercial office space. Chuck knew that if Casey saw him flustered that Casey would ferret out what Molly had just said. He also knew that while the big guy was somehow intimidated by the small child, that wouldn't prevent Casey from giving he and Sarah a hard time about their "wedding".

"What are you doing here, Bartowski? I thought the computers needed more time to 'render'," Casey snarled out in a slightly more snarky than usual tone. _Great, either a four year old planning my nuptials, or a disgruntled NSA agent. Which to choose? Which to choose_? Chuck thought to himself.

"I just thought that with Molly not feeling well that I would get out from underfoot so that she could eat some lunch and take a nap," Chuck offered, hoping against hope that the legitimate sounding excuse would pacify Casey. No such luck.

"Please, if Molly was feeling that bad you would either be rubbing her back or rushing her off to get checked by Ellie," Casey grumbled while staring at Chuck to figure out the reason behind Bartowski's sudden appearance. "Kid said something in there to you that freaked you out, didn't she?" Casey's sneer turned into a wicked grin. "What's the deal with her and Walker, anyway? Mighty big age gap between those two."

"Leave it alone," Chuck's tone was hard, his face matching it. Chuck knew that it was a mistake to reveal anything to Casey, but he was overly protective of the two sisters.

Casey looked up in genuine surprise at Chuck's tone. The question had seemed pretty innocuous. He knew from his dealings with Walker that the girl was almost certainly the missing heiress from Budapest. Walker knew that Casey would drop anyone who posed a threat to the child. Apparently she hadn't shared the memo with Chuck about Casey likely knowing the truth. But the nerd had a spine, it turned out. Chuck wasn't physically intimidating like Casey, but he was beyond gifted with computers and could ruin someone in ways other than a right cross to the chin.

Molly was a good kid. She terrified Casey in ways he would never admit to anyone, but she was a total innocent. If Sarah hadn't killed Ryker in that mission, Casey would have hunted him down just to make sure Molly had a safe future. But Chuck didn't know that, and Casey could use that to torment the guy who should have joined the NSA instead of operating as an outside contractor.

"You'd make a lousy poker player, kid," Casey finally said, before turning back to his paperwork.

Chuck was surprised. "Kid" was as close to warm and fuzzy as Casey ever got. Recognizing that Casey wasn't going to go digging into Molly's background, Chuck headed over to the disguised platform elevator that provided access to Castle hidden behind a false wall in the hangar bay.

"Hey," Chuck said, turning to Casey who had joined him on the hidden platform, "why did the NSA pick an RC Cola vending machine to hid the elevator access? Where did they even find one? I don't think that brand has existed since I was born. And what if someone wants to actually buy one? Did the NSA find a secret stash of cans in order to stock this thing? Hey, is there a use by date on sodas manufactured in the 70s?"

Casey merely grumbled at the string of inane questions. Reaching down, he pushed the second from the bottom selection button, holding all five fingers against it for seven seconds as a biometric scanner concealed in the button verified his identity. A six foot by six foot section of the floor silent slid down the hidden, soundproof NSA station.

"I would have thought that a pop culture junkie like you would appreciate the quirky touch," Casey snarkily shot back.

Chuck gave Casey the flattest of flat looks, "Wrong type of pop. And that was a horrible pun. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"You come up with some ridiculous name for the cover business and you say that I should be ashamed of myself? Really?"

"Wait," Chuck said, quickly turning serious. "I thought that you were a military history buff and would appreciate the tie in."

Casey stepped off of the platform and into the confines of Castle before looking at Chuck with a questioning gaze, "What are you rambling about this time Bartowski? What possible link is there between our office space and this nation's military history? Granted, having a hangar to ourselves makes it easier to deploy a rapid response team covertly."

Chuck was disappointed, having assumed that Casey would have seen the name Chuck chose for the NSA cover business as an olive branch of sorts after the tense start to the unusual team. "These offices and the hangar below are on the spot where the original Lockheed factory was built. Specifically, the home to Kelly Johnson's famous Skunkworks for Lockheed. It was not only a critical source of fighter planes in World War II, but it was also the home to the P80, F117 and…the SR71…" Chuck looked at Casey expectantly.

"The Blackbird," Casey said, understanding dawning on him. "Blackbird Avionics." _Hmm, should have known that with a genius like him that there would be a reason behind the name. I just thought it was some weird videogame or something. Clearly I underestimated the kid_.

Chuck headed over to the console to check the status of the decryption run, clearly disappointed that his effort to mollify Casey had gone completely unnoticed. Casey decided to extend an olive branch of his own. "So, Bartowski, the logo, with the red line around the globe. Was that the first flight path of the SR-71?"

Chuck quickly perked up, "Close. It's the flight path from the final flight. Or, at least the last publicly recognized flight. I didn't do any digging to see if there were any additional flights after the plane was retired."

Casey gave a grunt, apparently of approval, before heading off to look over some paperwork. The kid really would make the worst poker player I've ever seen. Still, that is a pretty cool reason for the name, and the logo. Casey swept his eyes around his workspace with renewed respect. As Chuck had predicted, he was a military history buff. A lot of highly classified military history had its origins in this very spot. _Beckman had told me the office/hangar space was Bartowski's idea. And it really was a damned good idea. Covert entry and exit for the rapid response NSA strike teams. Plenty of room for cover and covert activities. Enough traffic in the area to blend in in plain sight. Clearly Chuck had learned about the history before he had pitched the idea to Beckman. I wonder if she even knew about the Skunkworks tie in_.

Casey looked at the Blackbird Avionics logo with the blue-green earth circled by a bright red line. A suborbital flight path. A hidden hint located in plain sight to the cover business name. _There are levels to this kid that people just overlook, like I did. Plus, he could have dug into the SR-71 classified files to find out the truth about its final flight, but he didn't need to so he didn't. Most hackers have zero respect for authority. Piranha is a different beast from them. He'd still make for a lousy poker player, but he's a good man_.

His normal animosity towards Bartowski gone for the moment, Casey made his way over to the console where Chuck sat scrolling through data. "So, what are we looking at here?"

Chuck didn't take his eyes off of the monitors as he replied, "The NSA sent a wish list when we opened this fully armed and operational battle station." Chuck paused, realizing that Casey was genuinely interested and that nerdisms would destroy whatever reprieve from sarcasm this was. "Basically, among the tasks they wanted me to try would be to see if I could get into the secure servers for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. A couple of days ago there was an intercept showing that a high ranking Colonel in the Guards was traveling to Yemen under diplomatic cover. I figured out his official email address and spoofed a memo from the Guards IT department requesting that he reset his password."

"Now identity thieves often do this by sending a link that looks like a legitimate website, such as a bank. The victim types in their account information and password, and 'resets' their password on the fake site. The thieves then access the account and clean it out before the victim has time to realize that something was wrong."

Chuck paused to face Casey, realizing that the NSA agent was paying close attention, interested in what Chuck had to say. Hoping that his olive branch had been belatedly accepted, Chuck continued, "Now the guy I'm targeting is smart and security savvy. So, instead of setting up a fake Revolutionary Guard portal, or attaching a file with malware, the email itself was a trojan horse. The act of opening the email embedded a virus into the operating system for the guy's phone. The virus then captured every keystroke he entered, and sent the information to a dark web site in small data packets that would not be detected. I've been converting Farsi to English, as we can't outsource this a translator, and Sarah has been tied up with Carmichael Industry paperwork. The computer has been decrypting the files to that we can figure out what is work related, and what is personal. If there are any glitches, we can have Sarah take a look to figure out the proper wording." 

Casey gave another grunt of approval. "The NSA would want both. If there is some personal information that could be used in the future, they might be able to flip him and make him a double agent. Or even get him to defect. That would be a huge coup. A high ranking member of the Guards would have access to a tremendous amount of information and insight."

"Well," Chuck said, clearly pleased with Casey's approval, "I'll give 'em whatever we get. But, for now, let's just see what we get access to." A short time later, Chuck was deep inside of the operating system for the Revolutionary Guards servers and communications systems. He created an access portal for the NSA to use that was all but guaranteed to never be detected by the Iranians. All they would see would be standard self-diagnostics being run on a regular basis, not any unauthorized access.

Sarah had gotten the text from Chuck that he and Casey were on their way back up to the cover offices at Blackbird. A few moments later, Molly began stirring after a much needed nap brought on by a combination of flu medicine and (thanks to Chuck) a full stomach. Molly already looked loads better than she had when Sarah had picked her up at school just a few hours earlier.

Sarah and Molly retraced Chuck's (instead of Casey's) steps out of Carmichael Industries and next door to Blackbird Avionics. Molly instantly had a concerned look as they entered the NSA covert facility. She gave a warm smile when she saw the two men, "Chuck! Mr. Casey! Hi!" But then she continued in a worried tone, "Mr. Casey?"

The gruff NSA agent knew that he had a soft spot for the small child, even if he tried not to let it show (especially in front of Bartowski). But her being sick and now clearly worried was too potent of a combination for him to maintain his normal air of indifference. "What is it kid?" He asked gently, bending down so that he didn't tower over her.

Chuck would have teased Casey about being a squishy teddy bear on the inside, but both he and Sarah were too concerned about what had Molly upset. "Mr. Casey," Molly repeated in a timid tone, "do you not believe in Santa Claus?" The look on Molly's face made it clear what her opinion on such heresy would be. She had tears forming in her eyes, and her lower lip was quivering.

All three adults looked at each other in confusion, wondering both where Molly was coming from and where she might be going with this. "Of course I believe in Santa Claus," Casey replied earnestly, figuring that with a four year old that would be the safe, best and likely only acceptable answer.

Sarah smiled at Casey's statement. She might not know yet what Molly's reason was for the question, but she knew Molly. There was always a method to the madness, even if the logic behind the madness wasn't discernable to a grown up. Sarah had a feeling that Casey had just unwittingly painted himself into a corner from which there would be no escape. At least no escape without either significant tears from a little child, or significant embarrassment from the NSA Major. Sarah was actively pulling for the latter. Chuck, meanwhile, just looked thoroughly lost.

"But you don't have up any Christmas decorations," Molly insisted. "Chuck has tons and tons." Casey shot Chuck a death glare, realizing that the nerd, even if unknowingly, was responsible for this awkward predicament. Molly battled ahead, "How will Santa Claus know that you believe in him if he doesn't see any decorations? And if Santa doesn't think you believe in him, he won't bring you any presents." Molly looked to be on the verge of tears. Casey looked to be on the verge of an aneurism. Molly glanced around Casey's office despondently. Suddenly a big grin burst out, "You can borrow some of Chuck's! He's got lots and he likes to share stuff."

Casey contemplated sharing things with Chuck. Such as a punch in the face, or a swift kick in the pills. Sarah, recognizing the tic in Casey's tightly clenched jaws, said in a gentle rebuke, "Molly, sweetie, you can't just go around offering to give away someone else's stuff." Sarah shot Chuck a look of pure adoration, "Even if he is the type to give the shirt off of his back if it will help someone else out."

It was now Molly's turn to look completely confused, "But Mr. Casey won't fit into Chuck's shirt. And we were talking about Christmas decorations, not clothes!"

Chuck, oblivious to the danger posed by the irritated NSA agent, saw an opening to torment his tormentor, "No, Sarah. It's ok. Mr. Casey can borrow as many Christmas decorations as he wants. Tis the season of giving, and we certainly don't want Santa to overlook John." Chuck sent his most fake sincerely innocent look in his arsenal towards the man now actively contemplating Chuck's murder.

Casey let out a nearly inaudible growl as his right hand kept clenching into a fist. Thought after thought raced through Casey's head-each of which would result in the name John Casey being put on the naughty list for the rest of his life.

The following morning saw Major John Casey, NSA agent extraordinaire, hauling box after box of newly purchased decorations from a nearby department store. Casey would never admit it to anyone, but he had gone a little overboard in case Molly came by again. Her disappointment at his prior lack of decorations had unnerved the seasoned intelligence agent.

Casey was stringing the last of the garlands from the ceiling of Blackbird Avionics when a chirp from the main monitor in the room alerted to an incoming videoconference call. Casey quickly moved his hands behind his back to hide the numerous band-aids that covered papercuts received while decorating the office.

With her usual lack of preamble or pleasantries, Beckman began discussing the treasure trove of secrets that the NSA had already obtained through Bartowski's backdoor access into the Revolutionary Guards servers and communication systems. She was in the process of detailing the plan to take out a terrorist cell that depended entirely on Iranian backing when she suddenly stopped speaking and started squinting into her monitor.

"Major Casey, explain yourself," the diminutive senior officer demanded.

"Explain what, ma'am," asked a confused Casey.

"Explain what?! Explain the decorations throughout your base of operations? Have you forgotten that you are heading up a covert NSA substation? What is the meaning of this?" Beckman had known Casey for years, and knew that the man did not possess a single sentimental bone in his body. Something was seriously wrong in Burbank. She could only hope that the Ring hadn't somehow compromised John Casey.

"Major Casey, I will have you know that religiously based decorations are being heavily scrutinized by the NSA Inspector General's office as an improper promotion of one religion thereby constituting a violation of the Constitution regarding separation of church and state. Despite this, you spent how much of the budget on the cover operations to make your office space look like the set of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special?

"Your office has been redecorated without prior permission in unauthorized holiday material. You did not submit forms 2763-B1B, 2763-B2A, or 2763 -B52H. Explain that."

"Begging your pardon, General, but all of these decorations were purchased with personal funds. Further, they are necessary in order to preserve the cover of a civilian operation at Blackbird Avionics. We would be the only commercial business at the airport not to have any decorations in place."

"Very well, Major. You will need to submit all receipts and proof of funding source for all of these so-called decorations to the Inspector General's office as part of a full audit of the classified books for Blackbird Avionics," Beckman ended with a glare.

"You're siccing the bean counters on me General?" Casey asked in shock.

"Financial accounting specialists, First Class," Beckman corrected sourly. "Merry Christmas, John." She abruptly terminated the conference.

Now facing a dark screen, Casey began pounding his head against the desk in front of him. "Somehow, some way, this is all Bartowski's fault. I'm going to rip that nerd limb from limb from limb."

Down the hall at Carmichael Industries, Chuck had his feet up on the corner of his desk, looking over the financial revenues from the Nerd HQ's second game-but first under their own label. The central monitor in front of him beeped to indicate a videoconference link to General Beckman had been initiated. While Chuck knew that the monitor could be used, it was a last resort option that hadn't been triggered during the operation to date.

Diane Beckman appeared on the screen. "Nicely played, Mr. Bartowski," she commented with a smirk.

Chuck was thoroughly lost, "I'm sorry, General? Is this about the Guards hack?"

"Ho, ho, ho, Mr. Bartowski," Beckman responded. "Merry Christmas to you and the family. Try not to torment Casey…too much. But photos would be appreciated." Beckman had a devilish grin on her face as she ended the conference call.

Chuck started laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair. Suddenly, Casey could be heard through the sliding wall, "Bartowski! You are a dead man!"

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(Bartowski White Christmas Party)

Sarah was snuggled up tight against Chuck on the sofa as she was being heartwarmed by the Christmas classic. The movie was lighthearted fun, with lots of singing and dancing. Ellie had given her an exaggerated wink when the song "Mandy" came on. Sarah realized that she felt thoroughly content-and not simply because of the incredible dinner that Ellie had prepared (the woman must have been a master chef in a past live). Life was simply better than she could ever remember it being, and a lot had to do with the special guy who was holding her close.

Sarah had the feeling that this could be a new joint Christmas tradition, and she was more than okay with that. She was thoroughly content, thoroughly heartwarmed when her phone buzzed with an incoming text message. _Safe your weapon_. The message was from Casey. Sarah knew full well that Ellie had invited Casey, but he had begged off. But what was up with that message.

Trying not to alert anyone else in the room to the concerning message, Sarah typed back, _What is going on? Is there a threat?_ Her phone showed that Casey was typing a response, so she waited, unconsciously holding her breath. _If there was a threat, do you think I would have told you to safe your weapon? Just make sure your sister is awake, and don't shoot_.

A moment later, a surprisingly tall Santa Claus came to the archway into the living room, let out a booming, "Ho, ho, ho." Molly jumped to her feet, gasping at having seen the big man himself. Then Santa raced towards the fireplace in the rear of the room. Chuck was thoroughly confused when he realized two things. First, Sarah had vanished. Second, Santa Claus apparently chose black combat boots as his footwear of choice. Chuck's eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead as Santa climbed into the fireplace before reaching around his back and suddenly launching up the chimney with a slight whirring sound.

Sarah, meanwhile, had bolted out of the house, quickly scaling a tall oak tree located near the apartment. She had made her way over to the chimney stack as she heard cursing coming from the top of the chimney. "Careful there Santa," she said with a laugh. "Language like that might mean that you have to put yourself on the naughty list."

Casey was halfway in and halfway out of the chimney, tugging away at a paracord tied to an electric winch. "The damn beard got tangled in the winch and I'm stuck," he groused as he yanked at the offending fake facial hair. "Gimme a hand here, damnit." He then turned to look at Sarah when he didn't hear her approaching.

"Put the phone away, Walker," he growled in his most menacing voice.

"Sorry, Casey. Orders," Sarah said as she snapped another picture with her phone. "Beckman gave express orders that anything unusual regarding the Bartowskis was to be reported directly to her. And a 6'3" elf stuck in a chimney above their apartment certainly qualifies as unusual. Wouldn't you say?"

"I hate this assignment," Casey grumbled as the swooshing sound of an email being sent came from Sarah's phone.

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A/N 2: My apologies for the late posting. This chapter had a lot of revisions (or additions). There's one more chapter and a brief epilogue to go. For any military history buffs out there, there is an interesting story about the Lockheed factory at the Burbank Airport in World War II using camouflage to hide its operations. With netting, fake trees and fake houses strung from the top of one building to another, the entire facility was covered up to look from the air as just another suburban development.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch. 15 Ringing in the Holiday

A/N: The final chapter is here (a short epilogue to follow). It's a bit on the short side, but when you've never been to LA, you can only get so many details out of Yelp or tripadvisor. Thanks to everyone who has posted a review or sent a PM (hopefully the site gets the email alert to PMs operational again).

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He was certain that everyone he passed could see the ring box in his pocket, could tell what was about to happen. What was I thinking, going for a surprise proposal? Sarah is ex-CIA. There is no way to surprise her. But I need to do this. This conversation can't wait any longer.

Chuck's hand moved agonizingly slowly to knock on the door. Conversely, it felt as though he hadn't finished knocking when the door was wrenched open and the woman he needed to speak with was standing in the doorway, her trademark smile on her face, mixed with a look of slight confusion.

"Chuck, are you okay? You're looking a little pale. Why don't you come on inside?"

Chuck stepped into the living room that seemed nearly as familiar to him as his own. _If I'm freaking out this badly, there's no way that I'm going to get through the proposal. Okay, deep breath. You can do this_.

"...". _Okay, another deep breath and THEN you can do this_.

"Hi Emma."

Sarah wasn't It. She wasn't The One.

She was the There Is No Way That Even With All The Good Deeds I Did In Every Past Life That I Could Possibly Deserve A Woman As Amazing As Her. Chuck wondered for a moment if Hallmark made a card for that.

"You want to ask my daughter to marry you, don't you?"

Chuck's mouth dropped open. "What? How...how did you know? Oh, god. Does Sarah know? What? What am I doing?"

Emma's trademark smile grew broader. "Relax Chuck. You are spiraling." She leaned back, propping her elbow on the back of the sofa. "I'm a mom. We have kind of a sixth sense about these things. Let me guess. You don't think that you are good enough for my big little girl?"

"No. I don't," Chuck honestly replied.

"That's exactly why you are good enough for her," Emma said as she wrapped up a thoroughy confused Chuck in a hug. He started to sag against her in relief, but with their vast height difference, it started to make the hug awkward.

"Look, I know that tradition dictates that the guy is supposed to ask for the blessing from the man in the family before proposing, but there's nothing particularly traditional about either of our families."

Emma started to get teary eyed as she looked up at Chuck, "You don't need my blessings, Chuck. You are a good man, and you love my little girl. That is enough. But if its blessings you want, its blessings that you get. I hope that Sarah makes you as happy as you deserve to be. Be good to her."

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This was becoming a disaster. He was in love with a woman who had been the top spy for the CIA. Every time they headed out, he was convinced that she knew the ring box was in his pocket.

He had researched the LA County Botanical Gardens, and saw a lot of glowing reviews from couples who had used the site for engagement photos. But when they showed up Sarah had ordered a quick retreat after seeing several brides-to-be posing for pictures around the grounds in their gowns.

A week later, Chuck headed over to the Kyoto Gardens to try there instead, only to find that it was closed for a private event for a local tv station. He had been nervous enough to start, but now his top two ideas had failed.

He next booked a dinner reservation for a secluded table on a balcony where they could enjoy a romantic dinner under the light of the full moon. That plan also crashed and burned when rain showers rolled in as they were valeting Sarah's car.

Sarah had been growing concerned with Chuck's unusual behavior. She would be the first to admit that she wasn't as in to the sci-fi films from the 50s or 60s as Chuck was, but the time spent cuddling on the couch during movie nights was precious to her. She liked the concept of wandering hand in hand with Chuck through LA's botanical gardens. But when they had seen all the bridal parties, Sarah had beat a quick retreat.

She hadn't wanted Chuck to feel pressure to propose. They had only been together a few months, and while she knew that Chuck was her forever, she wanted to give him the time to decide where he saw their relationship in the long term. She was confident that they would be together for the long haul. If it took Chuck a little while to get comfortable with that concept, so be it.

She had the Kyoto Gardens on her to do list for a while, and had really looked forward to exploring them together with Chuck. She had heard the Gardens were beautiful, but she also loved it when Chuck knew some random arcane fact and thought those gardens would provide such an opportunity. She had been disappointed that their visit would have to wait for another date- but Chuck had been practically morose.

She had also been excited for their moonlight dinner on the patio of Il Castello- a recommendation from Captain Awesome rather than their usual Morgan referral. It was early in the wet season for an unexpected shower, but it was still the wet season so she wasn't totally surprised at the need to change plans due to Mother Nature.

Chuck began muttering about conspiracies but went mute when she pushed to try to find out why he was so upset. Given his open and chatty nature, his refusal to discuss his frustration was very out of character. Was he starting to think that she wouldn't be happy with their date nights at the Bamboo Dragon? She didn't think that she was acting like some needy, high maintenance girlfriend, but, more importantly, what did Chuck think?

Chuck finally came up with a fourth option for the engagement plan (Morgan probably could have come up with a dozen more, but Morgan's "plans" often were not only not practical but often not physically possible). The Griffith Observatory was having a special watch party for the Orionid meteor shower. Given the light pollution from LA and the haze, it might be difficult to see many shooting stars, but Orion's Belt had always fascinated Chuck.

Sarah was edgy, trying to figure out what the deal with Chuck had been of late. She was a little more comfortable with their evening plans at Griffith Observatory, as it played to Chuck's nerdy side. _Had he been trying to expand his interests to accommodate me? Move outside of his comfort zone to please me? Discomfort?_ She liked the idea of a romantic dinner for two, but she didn't need it. She liked trips to botanical gardens, but they weren't necessary. She wanted to spend time with Chuck, needed to spend time with Chuck. She was fine with alternating evenings to cater to one on the rare occasions when they couldn't find a common ground. Sarah tried to think if she had somehow come across as too demanding of late. She was stumped. Worried that her lack of dating history was prevented her from knowing what was going wrong, what needed to be done to right the ship.

For his part, Chuck was too nervous about the proposal plan to realize that Sarah had been on edge. He took Sarah by the hand and went to the railing overlooking the sprawling city below them. "You know, this view may actually be more impressive at night than it is during the day."

Sarah gripped Chuck's hand, concerned at the small talk that didn't even focus on the purpose of their trip- the Orionid Meteor Shower. _Talking about feelings isn't what I'm good at, but damn it, if Chuck isn't going to talk about his feelings then I will_. "We're good right, sweetie? The way things are between us? You are still good with that, right?"

_Oh crap. She knows about the proposal and she's hinting that she's not ready to move the relationship to the next left. She has to know, she was the world's greatest spy. _

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. But..."

"Is there someone else? Is it that new nerd herder at the Buy More? Or the deli girl?" Nervousness and jealousy made Sarah's tone far more sharp than she had intended?

"Hannah and Lou have a thing for me? Not the point, so not the point," Chuck mumbled. "There is no one else. There could be no one else. I still don't get how I'm lucky enough to have you in my life. How could I possibly be interested in anyone else? Who could possibly match up to you?"

Chuck began pacing in circles, while raking one hand after another through the curls atop his head.

"I'm just starting to think that Fate is actively trying to stop this proposal from happening. First the LA Botanical Gardens being overrun by wedding parties. Then Kyoto closed for a private event. Then our romantic moonlit dinner at Il Castello gets rained on. In LA where it hardly ever rains. Now you are worried that I could somehow be interested in another woman."

Chuck was too caught up in his drama to notice the gobsmacked expression on Sarah's face.

"First of all, stop ripping out your hair. Those are my curls to play with, and I don't want them damaged," Sarah commanded, amazement rippling like shock waves through her body as she came to terms with the true reason behind Chuck's behavior of late.

Sarah took a deep breath. "You brought me here to ask me to marry you? The whole you are mine, I am yours, grow old together type marriage?" _Please say yes, please say yes. Oh God, what if he meant something else by proposal. And now I'm spiraling. Chuck spirals, not me_.

Chuck stopped pacing and stilled his hands while doing his best impersonation of a deer in headlights. He then clenched his eyes shut, muttering "Great. I blew the proposal myself this time. We should just..."

"Charles Irving Bartowski" _Crap, she's just as intimidating as Ellie when she busts out the full name_ "if you have any type of ring on you and you take one step towards the car before that ring is on my finger, you will be in serious trouble."

Chuck's brain worked its way through the slightly scary use of his full name at the start, and the threat of violence at the end, before focusing his attention to the words "before that ring is on my finger". A smile bloomed on his face as he took to one knee while pulling a small box from the interior pocket of his light jacket.

"Sarah Lisa Walker, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Tears streamed down Sarah's cheeks as she started nodding. A flash of light to their left caught them by surprise.

"You still gotta say the words Blondie."

"Carina?" Chuck and Sarah exclaimed at the same moment. Carina stood there with a cellphone in hand, giving Sarah a hard look while repeatedly nodding her head in Chuck's direction. With a frustrated huff, Carina lifted her left hand and began wiggling her fingers.

"Oh," Sarah responded as Carina's hint finally made it through the haze of the moment, turning her attention to Chuck still kneeling before her, "I will." Several more flashes shot out from Carina's cellphone as Sarah hauled Chuck to his feet to passionately kiss him. The people nearby who had been frustrated by the camera flashes ruining their views picked up on what was happening and broke out in applause.

"Alright Carina, spill. How did you know to be here?" Sarah asked in a slightly breathless way while staring at the diamond sitting atop her left hand. Her head was still spinning at the turn the evening had taken.

"Relax kids. It was Mama Walker's intel that led me here. And the Gardens. And the other Gardens. And the restaurant- at least I got some decent tips there while posing as a server."

"Your boy here," Carina said while waving a hand in Chuck's direction, "went old school and asked for Emma's blessings."

Sarah turned with a shocked look to Chuck, who merely shrugged while blushing bright red. Sarah kept thinking that it wasn't possible to love Chuck any more than she already did, but he routinely (much to Sarah's pleasure) proved her wrong.

"So you've been following us around ever since, " Chuck asked.

"Oh, not just me," Carina replied with a toothy grin. "Wave hi to Roan. He's on the roof of the observatory with a low light video camera." Carina spun around on one heel and gaily waved towards the building. Sarah gave a wave as well, which was cut short as she had started to wave with her left hand and once again became fixated on her new jewelry.

"Oh my, that ring is beautiful," Sarah practically whispered, now that the dual shocks of the proposal and presence of Carina and Roan had diminished in the face of the life changing event.

"It was my grandmother's," Chuck told her. "Before my dad disappeared, he made sure to give it to me and Ellie. "

"Oh," Sarah replied, suddenly looking unhappy. "You should really leave this for Ellie. Even if I really never want it to come off of my finger, it should be hers." Sarah started to reach for the solitaire diamond.

"Who do you think insisted that I use this ring and not buy one of our own?" Chuck said as he pushed Sarah's unresisting hand away from the ring. "Besides, she already knows that she's getting the ring that belongs to Awesome's grandmother. Granny Woodcomb told her so, even though Devon hasn't realized yet that he's going to pop the Q."

"So, if Ellie already knows and gave you the ring, I take it that she approves?" Sarah was confident in her friendship with Ellie. But this, this meant that they would be family. Sarah finally realized the meaning behind the phrase 'baited breath'.

"If there was one person as, if not more, frustrated than me about these proposal plans not panning out, its Ellie," Chuck advised as he slung an arm over Sarah's shoulder to pull her close and kiss the side of her head. "She knows and approves. She's still going to spaz. Maybe we should swing by Casey's to pick up some ear protectors on the way to Ellie's. Ear drums may rupture in a several block radius when she hears that you said yes."

He wasn't wrong.

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A/N 2: A little shout out to Chuck vs. The Kitchen with the name of the restaurant with the near miss proposal. Thanks again to all who have read and reviewed. The finish line is in sight.


	16. Chapter 16

EPILOUGE:

A/N: Because I really didn't like the ambivalent ending to the show, I've vowed to always have closure in my stories here (even if the door is occasionally left open to sequels). As warned, it is short, but it gives the closure that I was looking for. Enjoy.

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Sarah peeked out from behind the curtains at the mass of people still streaming into the conference room on the second floor of the convention center at the E3 convention in Los Angeles. She knew that a number of her former co-workers at the CIA would dismiss the majority of the people in the room as nerds, geeks, dweebs, weirdos or even losers. There seemed to be so many derisive labels for a group who were, by and large, smart, creative and friendly. Not to mention extremely loyal. As with any group of this size, there were the occasional outliers. But since joining Nerd HQ, and tracking the online feedback to the game, Sarah had come to appreciate the fans.

Ever since the shooting in Jacksonville, Florida at an e-sports convention, security at these conventions had been tighter. But with her Chuck about to take the stage, Sarah wasn't relying on some paid by the hour security guard to keep Chuck safe. Thanks to her status as a former CIA agent, and current NSA outside contractor, Sarah had no difficulty obtaining permits to carry concealed deadly weapons. She currently had her trusty Smith & Wesson hidden away, along with several precision balanced throwing knives.

To her dismay, the weapons were far easier to hide, yet far more hard to access, than during her days as a deep cover agent. Sarah looked down towards her feet with a combination of expectancy and frustration. "I look like a beached whale."

She could tell by the sound of his voice that Chuck was grinning, "Baby, you look amazing. You have never looked more beautiful. And trust me, that is saying something."

"No secrets, no lies," she growled out, more out of anger over his attitude than disbelief in what he was saying. Although she still had trouble believing him about this.

"Sweetie, I know our pact. And it is neither a secret nor a lie that you look stunning," Chuck sincerely stated. "And in three short weeks, you will make an amazing mother to our child. Speaking of, you know Ellie's orders: no standing for prolonged periods when you are this close to our due date. I'm going to grab you a chair." Chuck hustled off in search of a chair, despite the fact that his panel was due to begin, or the fact that there were convention staffers who could easily handle the task.

The out of control pregnancy hormones made Sarah give a huff of exasperation. She simultaneously loved the fact that Chuck always referred to it as "our" due date, and hated the fact that he was getting partial credit while she got all of the back pain, morning sickness, stretch marks and frequent need for restrooms. Adding to her frustration were the facts that her favorite jeans and her collection of high heels had been relegated to the back of her closet, replaced by maternity dresses and colorful chucks. Although she had to admit that the chucks were super comfortable and it meant that she and Chuck had on matching footwear. Plus she now had a ready excuse to steal one of Chuck's tshirts and throw it on over a pair of yoga pants.

Moments later, Chuck came jogging back towards her, wheeling a chair in front of him. "You do remember that your sister is a neurosurgeon, not an obstetrician?" Sarah grumbled. Chuck's laughter did nothing to improve on her mood.

"Trust me Sarah. Ever since we told Ellie and Awesome about the pregnancy, Ellie has studied so much that I'm convinced that she knows more than most Board certified obstetricians out there. And it's not that she's about to become an aunt- well, not just that she's about to become an aunt at least- she also wants to be certain that things go smoothly and safely for her best friend."

Sarah grumbled some more, but quietly this time, as she sat down in the offered chair. She pushed down on the feeling of guilt that she had over her violation of their "no secrets, no lies" pact, even if it was more of an omission than an overt lie. But either way, it still counted as a secret. After all, it had been Ellie to break the news to Sarah that she was likely pregnant, rather than Sarah and Chuck revealing it to Ellie. Ellie had noted Sarah's onset of fatigue and appetite change. It had been Ellie who had prompted Sarah to get the home pregnancy test.

But when Chuck had come home, and they had seen the (+) symbol appear on the wand, she had been too stunned to tell him why she had bought the test. He had then been so excited to break the news to Ellie and Awesome. Plus, Ellie was a little bit to blame as well, acting all surprised at the announcement. _Turns out that Ellie was just as bad of an actor as Chuck_. Sarah had figured that she would tell Chuck in a day or two. But a few days quickly turned into seven months.

_Now's probably not the best time to tell him either_, Sarah realized as Chuck jumped to his feet. "That's my cue," he said, bending over to give her a quick, and frustratingly chaste kiss. Sarah's feelings of guilt and frustration washed away as she basked in the feeling of loving, and being loved by, Chuck Bartowski.

As soon as Chuck slipped through the curtain, the cheering began in earnest. Sarah was thrilled that some many people were fans of her husband. However, the people jumping to their feet made her protective instincts twitch. Chuck, being Chuck, merely waved and blushed profusely red at the enthusiastic greeting.

Chuck headed up the Nerd HQ panel for the company's newest hit game, with a moderator from Wired Magazine asking questions to Chuck, Morgan and some of the graphic designers who had collaborated on the game. Chuck described the game concept, and then Morgan took over to play a few screens of the game itself, hooked up to a high definition projector. The crowd's enthusiasm swelled as they got their first peek at the new offering.

After another question and answer session with the panel moderator, a microphone was set up for a short period where the audience could ask the panel questions. One of the first people up was a female blogger who asked about Nerd HQ being "taken over" by Carmichael Industries. While the information on the company structure was public knowledge, it had little to do with the game being touted, making Sarah suspicious about the blogger's true intentions.

Chuck, however, took the question in stride, "We did join Nerd HQ into Carmichael Industries recently. However, Morgan and I, along with our COO, still have complete creative control over the games. One hundred percent. The merger with Carmichael was more about getting access to a bigger distribution platform without losing control of our product. Previously, we had developed a couple of games that were sold off to big established gaming companies. But we had to give up control of our creations, our vision. Now, we get to distribute the games the way we want, the way we envisioned them."

Despite the limited time for Q&A, the woman wasn't willing to surrender the mike just yet, "Word is that Nerd HQ is also planning on some educational software. Is it true, and is that because you want to give back to the community?" Sarah noted the way the woman was looking at Chuck, and the flirtatious lilt to her voice. A growl that would have made Casey jealous started rumbling in Sarah's chest.

Chuck, however, was oblivious to the interest of the woman as a woman. "I'm really glad that you asked about that," he began with a smile. The woman beamed back. Sarah, tucked away backstage sent her a glare that was so intense that during her CIA career had caused hardened criminals to confess before more creative interrogation techniques had to be employed. But as the woman was focused on Chuck, she had no idea of the trouble she was stirring up.

Chuck continued on with his response, "We are really excited about this. It was actually another reason for joining Carmichael, as this working group is under a separate label from Nerd HQ. But what we're doing is creating a whole line of games that are actually educational software." Chuck's enthusiasm on the project was evident. Even Morgan had a big grin and was nodding along with Chuck's description. "The product focus is to create games where, in order to advance through levels, the player has to answer questions or say the proper response. The goal is to get children excited to play the game, and the parents, caregivers or teachers to be excited as the child will be learning as they go along."

"The project is rather complex," Chuck continued. "We are trying to create different games to address different learning barriers. We then try to make the game levels age or grade appropriate. We wouldn't want a child getting discouraged as the game level was designed for an older kid, or because exposure to an area of study would be needed to play. It poses a definite challenge, but one that we are determined to overcome."

"We are partnering closely with a huge number of educators and childhood development specialists," Chuck added. "Our goal is to get a product where the questions or problems to solve are as universal as possible. Given the vastly different curricula at schools from county to county as well as from state to state across the country, this is quite the challenge."

"My wife is overseeing the Group, so the project could not be in better hands. Sarah is determined to make these games successful both in terms of being fun to play, but as importantly at being effective at helping each child to achieve his or her full potential. And let me tell you something," Chuck said in a stage whisper. "When Sarah is determined, she never fails at her mission."

Chuck motioned for Sarah to join them on the panel. The blogger suddenly stopped beaming and instead looked like she had tasted something sour. However, as a very pregnant, and very glowing Sarah Bartowski waved to the crowd, the audience started cheering harder than ever. Chuck wrapped Sarah in a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The blogger, realizing how stunningly beautiful Chuck's wife was, and now saw the look that Sarah sent her way, slipped towards the back of the room.

"Here she is now! Sarah, everyone. Everyone, Sarah," Chuck said, while jumping to his feet so that Sarah could take his chair. "As you can see, we are expecting a little nerd of our own soon. So, as important as we saw this project when we came up with it, it is now personal to us as well."

With one hand on the child growing inside her belly, and one hand in the hand of her husband, Sarah reveled in the feeling of contentment. It had been quite the journey. Just over a year ago, she had quit the CIA with no idea what to do next. Now she was doing work that she knew was helping others (with Nerd HQ) and was keeping the country safe (with Carmichael Industries).

More importantly, she was happily married, expecting a baby, and was an integral part of a family that included her mom, little sister, sister-in-law/best friend, and brother-in-law. As the saying goes, life is a journey, not a destination. Sarah had thought that she had seized control of her own destiny when she handed in her resignation to Director Graham. But the journey had taken her down a completely unexpected path. She couldn't be happier, and gauging by the look of love that Chuck was sending her way, neither could he.

THE END.

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A/N2: To paraphrase the words of Boyz II Men, we've come to end of the road. Originally, this story looked like it would be in the 25k-30k word range. Sometimes you just have to go where the story takes you. This was one of those times. I hope that you all enjoyed it. Thanks again for all the words of support and encouragement.


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